The Legacy
by epyepy
Summary: *New Chapter!! 11/26/02* The original Charmed Ones have died.. But their legacy continues. The torch has been passed on to the next generation. Will they carry the torch proudly or will its fire burn them?
1. Prologue

Author's Note:  I don't own "Charmed."  Also, this is my first fanfic so reviews are very welcome.  Well, enjoy the show.

**_Prologue:_**

"We must leave our child here."

"Why?!?  Why must we do this?"

"You know the answer to that, my dear."

"I know.  I just wish…"

"I know, I understand.  But we must do this.  You've already foreseen our brief futures, and we cannot avoid it."

"I only hope he will live a normal life, away from this, away from Char…"

"Shh!  Do not speak his name or you'll catch his attention."

"I'm sorry.  I'm just so at a loss. We will never see our child grown. We will never be part of his life."

"Don't be sorry…we will keep watch even when we are gone.  Have you done the binding?"

"Yes, but I only wish we didn't have to.  He's already losing us, and now he's losing a part of his heritage."

"But as you said, he must live a normal life to escape our fate.  Come we must leave before **he finds us and our child."**

The sad couple knocked on the orphanage door three times before fleeing into the rain, leaving their precious bundle.  And the storm grew fierce and frightening around the area.  The angry winds overwhelmed the pleading cry of a lonely child and muffled the terrifying screams of his dying parents.  Then suddenly all was quiet…


	2. Beginning of School

**_Ch. 1: Beginning of school_**

An alarm clock goes off in a quaint house on Prescott Street.  A slender arm goes up and slams down on the offending nuisance.  The comforter covered lump on the bed grumbled for about two minutes before lifting the covers.  Shoulder length hair was strewn all over the disgruntled head of a young woman.  She tries to rub the sleep out of her eyes but to no avail for she slowly seeks the comfort of her pillow again.  Before her dream prince could turn around and kiss her, the blaring noise of her snooze alarm on her digital clock shocks her awake.

"Okay, okay.  I give up.  I surrender."

She reached over to her nightstand to find her glasses.  Once she has them on, she wades through the mess she likes to call the floor.  

She thinks to herself, "I really have to clean up this room.  Dad will probably have a seizure if he comes to see my room like this again."

She walks over to her table and sits down in front of the mirror.  She slowly brushes her hair into a semblance of order.  As she finishes, she looks up at the mirror.  Dark brown eyes framed by her glasses stare back at her.  She sighs and looks down at a picture frame on her table.  On it is a beautiful older woman, and on the bottom part of the frame it reads 'Mom.'

She gives another sigh but this one tinged with a little bit of sadness.  "I wish you're here now Mom.  It's my senior year in high school, and you won't be here.  I know I got over blaming you a long time ago for leaving us but without you here, my graduation just won't be as memorable."  She looks down at her lap for a few seconds before shaking off the melancholy air.

"Well, better get ready for school.  It'll be my last year, might as well make the effort of getting there on time."  She grabs a towel off the floor and heads to the bathroom down the hall.

When she opens the door, she sees two head pop out of two other bedrooms next to hers.  All of them eyeing the bathroom door, and then eyeing each other.  Before the other two could take a step toward the bathroom, they hear its door locking.

The other girl quickly rushes the bathroom door and knocks loudly, ready to knock it down.  "MELINDA GRACE HALLIWELL-WYATT!!  That was completely unfair.  You know we're not supposed to use our powers for personal gain!!  I hope you grow a huge pimple on you forehead for that!" shouted the fiery redhead.  

"You're just jealous that you couldn't do the same thing, so HA!" Melinda shouted back.

"Please, keep the tempers down, ladies.  I'm still trying to wake up here," said the 17-year old guy groggily as he walked toward the redhead, "If you want Trish, you can go before me.  I'm just going to sit down on this nice floor, wait my turn and maybe catch a few z's."

"Well thank you Alex, at **least some people here are consid-," before Patricia 'Trish' Halliwell could finish, she was interrupted by the snores coming from one Alexander Cole Halliwell, "Ugh! Well that was rude.  Couldn't even stay awake long enough for me to thank him."  Trish stomps back to her room completely unhappy on how her day was starting.  Of course, Alex was smiling all the while because everything was working out fine.**

Melinda quickly finishes her shower and wraps her towel around herself.  "Good morning, Alex.  I see you've tricked our dear young cousin again."

"Mornin' to ya to Mel.  Hey, it's not my fault if she fell for it again," Alex comments nonchalantly.  As soon as he locks the bathroom door, he hears a rampaging Trish.

Trish shouted though the door, "Oh!!  You're going to so get it when you get out of there."

Alex laughs back, "Hey!  You snooze, you lose."  

As Alex gets in the shower, he thinks, "Man, I wouldn't trade this family for the world."  As soon as he thinks this, he gets that eerie feeling before a premonition.  He thinks, "Well that's weird.  I could've sworn I was gonna get a premonition.  Hmmmm, maybe it means school will be canceled today.  Yeah right, I wish."  He forgets about the feeling and continues to get ready for school.

Downstairs, a domesticated whitelighter is preparing breakfast for the family.  "Another year of school.  And my daughter's last year in high school and then off to college.  Ugh! I'm getting too old," Leo Wyatt ponders.  In actuality, he doesn't look a day over 30 all thanks to being a whitelighter.  "My kid, heck all the Halliwell kids, are growing up so fast and have grown up fast.  Being witches, especially **teenaged Halliwell witches, has taken its toll.  But Piper, Phoebe, and Paige, I know you would be proud of them."  Leo lets go of some his musings and continues with the morning meal.  **

"Mel!  Alex!  Trish!  Come on and get your butts down here and eat some breakfast and get to school," yells Leo.

Like a pounding stampede, three teenagers rush to the kitchen and head to the table.  A tornado of arms starts swarming over the breakfast and the same time barrage of noise slams into Leo's ears.

"Dad can I borrow the…"

"Hey, Uncle Leo could you sign…"

"And how's my favorite uncle? The same uncle that will let me…"

Leo raises his hands and says, "Whoa there kids. Ease up on the old man here," after everybody quiets down a bit, "Now, let me answer everybody.  Mel, you can use the car BUT only from here to school and back.  Alex, hand me a pen and let me sign your permission slip.  And for the 100th time, Trish, you cannot get a tattoo.  No matter how cool you think they are or no matter how much you point out that your mother and both you aunts had one.  The answer is still NO."  Two of the Halliwell teens gave a heartfelt thanks, while the youngest one grumbled to herself the unfairness of it all.

"Now that's finished, I want everybody to remember to come home today directly from school.  Each one of you has to practice up on your potions.  That last vanquishing potion didn't have the right amount of acacia, and we almost blew it against that low-level demon," Leo paused for the resounding groans from the other three, "Hey don't complain to me.  After two years, of this, you three should have mastered potions by now.  Good thing it was only a low-level demon.  Now I don't want to hear any more complaining.  Understood?"

"Yes, Dad."  "Yes, sir"  "Yes, Uncle Leo."

"Now, everybody hurry up and clean your dishes and head off to school.  It looks like you three will be late for the first day of school…again."

****

"Ughh, I can't believe Dad was treating us like children, again.  It wasn't my fault.  The Book of Shadows said a pinch of acacia.  So I pinched," Mel complained.

"Don't worry about it Mel.  I think your Dad is just worried about us.  Our powers were bound until we reached our 18th birthdays so we can have a normal childhood, but we weren't even suppose to have our powers unbound that early.  It was only because…you know…" There's an uncomfortable pause before Alex continues in a quiet voice, "Our moms died."

"Yeah I know, Alex.  But it's just…we've been at this for two years now.  He has to let us learn from our mistakes our own way.  He's suppose to be our whitelighter.  Only there when we need the guidance and advise.  Not nagging us every step of the way," Melinda further complained.

"Yeah well, I can't believe Uncle Leo won't let me get a tattoo.  I mean come on it's a form of expression and individuality," Trish added to lighten the mood.

"Yeah and the fact that your three other friends has one doesn't have any influence in this at all.  Sure you want to be unique, just like everybody else," quipped Alex. 

"Hey, I resent that comment," Trish said in mock anger.

Melinda laughs, "Come on you guys, let's get to class before we're appallingly late.  I'll see you two at lunch, okay?"

"Sure Mel," the other two said before heading to their respective classes.

****

"Boy, Mr. Martinez is so boring," Melinda thinks while looking out the window, "I don't know why I need economics. All I got to know about money is how to spend it."  She continues staring out the window thinking of spending said money on that great skirt that would look great on her.

Mr. Martinez interrupts her daydreaming, "Everybody, we have a new student in class today.  His name is Jackson St. Claire.  And please class; remember that you're seniors now.  Try not to harass the new kid."  Mr. Martinez points to an empty seat next to Melinda.

Melinda turns to the new student for an examination.  "Okay, wearing black long sleeve t-shirt with black jeans and black boots…hmmm…can we say gothic?" Melinda thinks to herself "all that black hair is covering his face."  In the instant she thinks this, his head lifts and the chin length hair uncovers his face.

"Oh…My…God," Melinda thinks in amazement, "He has the most beautiful sea green eyes."  Then, they both realize they have been staring at each other, and both quickly put turn their heads back to the teacher.

"Ms. Wyatt, if you're done gazing lovingly into Mr. St. Claire's eyes," eliciting laughs from the other students, "Maybe you can answer my question: What happens when inflation…"  Then the bell rings before he could finish.  "Okay class, I want everybody to read the first chapter tonight and be prepared for a quiz tomorrow."  Groans are heard as students filed out of class.

Melinda tries to catch up to the tall, lean new student.  "Hey! Jackson, wait up," shouts Melinda.  She thinks to herself, "I don't what has gotten into me.  I'm not normally this forward.  But I have this feeling that I should get to know him better."

Jackson continues to weave through the hall traffic, walking as if he didn't hear her call out.  But finally Melinda catches up to him, "Hey! Jackson.  I just wanted to apologize about embarrassing you back there."

"It's okay.  I was embarrassing you too anyway.  Um…I really need to find my next class," Jackson says.  He seems uneasy talking to her and continues to avoid making eye contact.  "It was nice meeting with you…"

As he tries to walk away, Melinda grabs his arm and noticing that Jackson flinched, "Oh! I'm sorry.  Are you hurt?"

Jackson stumbles for words, "Um…It's nothing…I'm just clumsy…bumped into something."  He moves his arm out of her hands.

"Well, I just wanted to invite you to sit with me…I mean with my cousins and me during lunch," Melinda requests.  "Great Mel.  Why don't just go ahead and ask him to make out with you," Melinda thinks to herself, "I can't believe I'm getting a crush on the new kid."

Jackson replies, "Sure…Thanks."  He turns away and fleeing like he's trying to avoid anymore uncomfortable situations.  "I can't believe a pretty girl like her would talk to a geek like me…and I almost blew it when she grabbed my sore arm…oh well, I think she bought my excuse…Melinda Wyatt…what a nice name," Jackson thinks to himself.

****

"There's this new kid in my eco class, and I invited him to eat with us," Melinda informed her cousins.

"Oh!  Oh!  I smell a crush in the air," Trish comments while pointing a finger at her older cousin.

"For your information, I was just trying to be nice to the new kid," Melinda replies back.

"Says the Queen of the Shy People…Mel you don't normally go up to people and invite them to eat with you," Alex points out.

"I know...it's just I think…Oh!  There he is."  Melinda stands up from the round table and waves her hand toward the guy in question.

Alex leans over to Trish and whispers, "You're right.  I think she does have a crush."

"I heard that," Melinda says as she sits back down.  The other two put on their innocent faces but are obviously trying to not burst out laughing

Trish looking over in the new guys direction says, "Hey Mel…Now I know why you have a crush on him.  I think he's cute."

"For the last time, I don't have a crush on him," then Melinda quickly adds, "and I saw him first."  The other two quickly laugh at her final comment

Jackson finally arrives at the Halliwell's table.  Melinda stands up and introduces him to her cousins, "Jackson St. Claire, I would like you meet my cousins Alexander and Patricia Halliwell."

"Nice to meet both of you," Jackson replies.  He goes over to shake Trish's hand, "You can call me Trish…Patricia's just too formal for me."  Jackson smiles and moves over to shake Alex's hand.

As soon as the guys' hands touch, Alex receives a premonition.

::Flash::

It's nighttime.  Jackson standing on a building looking down below.  It looks like a darklighter whispering in Jackson's ear.

::Flash::

"Um…can I have my hand back?" Jackson asks.  He looks very uncomfortable with Alex gripping his hand very hard and eyes closed.

Melinda quickly realizes what has happened.  "Trish why don't you take Alex to the nurse's office for his 'medication'" She turns to Jackson, "He's…uh…diabetic and sometimes forgets to go the nurse during lunch time."  Trish and Alex quickly leave cafeteria to talk about the premonition.

"Why don't you have a seat while we wait for them to come back," Melinda says in an assuring manner.

"Uh sure, thanks," Jackson.  "Why do I have the feeling that something weird is going on and it has nothing to do with diabetes," Jackson thinks to himself.

"So…" Melinda trying to find a way to start to the conversation, "why did you move here?"

"Um…my dad wanted to move here…he said he was going to do a job, got it from some source,"  Jackson seems uncomfortable talking about his dad, "I usually do what he tells me…you know how it is."

"Yeah, dads can be overbearing sometimes," Melinda says, "so where did you move from?"

Jackson trying to change the subject from his personal life asks, "So what does your dad do?"

Melinda answers with her father's cover story, "Oh he's a home improvement guy, goes around people's homes fixing things," and thinks to herself, "He's also a whitelighter watching over three witches who apparently have a new innocent to protect, but we'll save this conversation for later.  Hoping there is a later 'cause I really like this guy."

The lunch continued with Melinda and Jackson exchanging information about each other, but Jackson kept the conversation from getting too personal about him.  Alex and Trish returned, and the three witches were giving each other meaningful looks that basically meant 'We **need to talk after school.'  But the rest of the lunch period was like any typical high school cafeteria, loud and chaotic.**

****

Melinda, Alex and Trish get into the jeep ready to get to business.  As Melinda drives out the school parking lot, she speaks up, "So Alex what did you see?"

"You sure can pick them Mel," Alex comments, "We have the usual darklighter messing with an innocent.  Let's ask your dad if this Jackson is suppose to be some future whitelighter."

Trish speaks up, "You know what was weird.  This guy doesn't feel like the type to become a whitelighter.  In fact he found out more about us than we found out about him.  Makes you kind of suspicious."

"Well it doesn't matter.  He's still our innocent and we have to protect him from that darklighter," Mel said in defense.

"I didn't mean anything by it Mel.  All I'm saying is he might be hiding something.  Let's be careful about this," Trish says in the attempts to keep an argument from brewing.

"I know.  But I just get this strong feeling to trust him.  Like we're suppose to always watch over him," Melinda says with a sigh, "And you know what dad says about trusting those witch-y gut feelings."

"Are you sure it's your instincts talking here or maybe it's your heart," Alex points out.

"Find I admit that I do find him attractive, but it's something else.  Can't you two feel it?" Mel asks.

"Now that you mentioned it, I head this weird feeling this morning.  Kind of like when I'm about to get a premonition but I didn't think anything of it," Alex mentions.  Alex turns around to look at Trish.

"Hey don't look at me.  Remember I'm the brute force of this trio.  I haven't had a single witch twitch all day," Trish says with both hands raised.  

"Well, we'll soon find out when we ask Dad about it."


	3. Trouble Is Brewing

Ch. 2: Trouble is Brewing 

"Dad!  We're home.  And looks like we have another innocent to look after…" Melinda yells.  But as everybody turns the corner, they see a very pensive looking Leo standing in the middle of the of the living room.

"Hey, Uncle Leo what's wrong?" Alex asks.

"Yeah, Dad what's happening?" Melinda asks worriedly.  Leo only points to the sofa to get the three young witches to sit down.

"Hey uncle, whatever it was.  It wasn't my fault," Trish says in a jesting voice.  But all her smiles are wiped away by her uncle's unwavering moody silence.  All three are now waiting in the worrisome atmosphere cast by their troubling whitelighter.

"Before I say anything, you three must promise to remain calm and collected.  I can't have any of you becoming hysterical. Okay?"  Leo giving each one a level gaze.

"Dad, I'm pretty sure we can handle anything you're about to say.  We've been at this for two years now." Melinda assures her father.  She looks at her younger cousins, and both of them give their own nods in agreement. "So you see Dad we have everything under…"

"The Source is back," Leo says deadpan.

The silence caused by the shocking news was deafening.  All surprised eyes were looking at Leo.  Suddenly,  the three witches voice their noisy outcries.

"What do you mean he's back?"  "I can't believe this…"  "I thought our moms defeated him…"

"Please all three you remain calm.  Let me try to explain what has happened and what's currently happening.  I am as shocked as you all are, and I only learned this news from the Elders only recently.  This is a newly risen Source.  Apparently, the second Source after Balthazar," Alex suddenly looks up at the mention of his dead father's alter ego but allows Leo to continue, "that was successful in carrying the mantle was also successful in bringing forth an heir.  As you all know, your mother's died in defeating this second Source.  But unbeknownst to them and the Elders, an heir was hidden in the darkest realm of the Underworld.  Only now has the Elders felt its power…and they believe it is the darkest and foulest evil they have felt in a very long time." 

"We're suppose to be the next Charmed Ones.  We can handled this, right?" Melinda asks almost in a pleading manner.

"I hope so dear…I hope so,"  Leo says in a quiet whisper.  Everybody is reflecting on this foreboding news.

Alex trying to air out the dark mood speaks up, "Well, we have to worry about it when the time comes.  But right now we have to deal with the innocent I saw in the premonition."  Leo looks up at Alex and silently thanking him from releasing everybody from the dark mood by changing their focus.  "An innocent, at least something we can handle," Leo silently expresses.

Melinda gladly changes the topic, "Yeah, dad.  It's this new guy at school.  We think it's a darklighter who's going to kill a future whitelighter.  Maybe you've heard of him.  The new student is called Jackson St. Claire."

Leo thinks about it and replies, "No…I don't think I've heard of a future whitelighter by that name.  If he just recently moved here, I would have been contacted to guide him."

"I knew it!"  Everybody is surprised by this exclamation made by Trish.  "What if this new guy is some demon or warlock working for the Source or maybe even the Source himself?"

Melinda readily defends Jackson, "That couldn't be right.  Alex saw that a darklighter was going to attack Jackson."

"No.  Alex saw that a darklighter was whispering in Jackson's ear.  We don't know if he's actually going to attack him.  Plus, isn't it kind of unusual that you're quick to defend a guy you barely know.  As I said before, he hasn't told us much about himself and that makes him suspect, especially considering that it's kind of convenient that we get this news about the Source and at the same time your initial crush on this guy.  Maybe it's a trap," Trish explains.

Melinda blushes both from the embarrassment from the broadcasting of her crush to her father and the anger she's feeling at her youngest cousin.  "He's an innocent.  I know it.  We have to protect him."

"Everybody, calm down…I have to agree with Trish that this maybe trouble.  So please all of you just keep an eye out on this boy.  If he's trouble at least you would be prepared.  If he's not and he's actually in trouble, then at least you would be prepared to save him.  Okay?"  Leo trying to mediate between the two parties.

Everybody assented to the compromise.  "Now that's dealt with.  I want everybody to go up the attic and study up on your potions.  Just spend an hour that and then start on your homework.  I'll call everybody once I'm done with dinner."  Looking at the disgruntled faces at the mention of potions, Leo quickly adds, "Hey, I just want all of you prepared especially since the Source is back."

He could hear grumbles as the three headed up to the attic.

****

"Can you believe it!  The Source is back.  Why can't we just have a peaceful year for once," Trish sounds out her complaint.

"You know Trish it is part of the territory, especially for being the next Charmed Ones.  We attract evil like bees to the honey," Alex replies, "But you're right it is unbelievable.  If our moms had to sacrifice themselves to defeat this thing's father.  How much more powerful would the heir be?"

"Listen you guys.  We can't sound defeated at the beginning.  We have to stand strong and remember that magic works on our strength and faith in ourselves.  We'll find a way.  They don't call us Charmed for nothing," encourages Melinda.

"Speaking of not giving up.  I may have a spell to make things clearer.  I'll cast it tomorrow morning because it'll only last for  24 hours," Trish looks up from her pad, "I still have to work out some kinks but I think it should work."

"Hey that's great Trish.  Good going.  And your first spell to boot.  Maybe you can finally add a spell to the Book," Alex mocks good naturedly.

"Hey!  If you're not careful, I'm going to cast a very painful wart on your butt," Trish returning the parley.  

"You two are never going to grow up will you," Melinda comments in her most pseudo serious tone.

"Ah yes, says the 18 year old with the undying love for the new kid," Alex dryly remarks.  Both Alex and Trish turn to each other and start laughing.

"You two are so impossible!!" Melinda exclaims.  Of course, she was trying to hide her embarrassment.  "That is the last time I ever admit anything personal to these two," she thinks.  After a while they return to their homework, both mundane and magical.

****

The next morning, the three waited for Leo to leave for his charges before Trish could cast her spell.  "I don't know why Uncle doesn't approve spell casting without his supervision," Trish complains.

"Well from what I can remember, he was witness to all your mom's experiments into anything magical.  And a LOT of them backfired on her," Melinda reminisces.

"Well backfiring spells is not something genetic so I'm quite positively, almost sure that this maybe might work," Trish explains.

Alex notes, "That's a lot of might's and maybe's there.  Are you sure you won't summon a demon or something?"

"Hey! I'm pretty confident in my abilities.  So ok, Mel hand me your glasses," Trish reassures Mel to ease her obvious reluctance, "I'm not going to break them I just need them as the focus of the spell."  Mel takes her glasses off but still reluctantly gives them up.

"Well, okay here goes:

I enchant these glasses with blessed sight.

If it's gaze fall on the just and right,

May they glow in blessed white.

If it's gaze fall on evil blight,

There!  A halo of blackest night.

In the passing of one day's time,

I will this spell to fade and flee.

As I finish this chanting rhyme,

So I will it, so mote it be."

As Trish finishes her spell, a bright light races down on Melinda's glasses and quickly fades.  "Well, at least there was evidence a spell was cast," Trish comments, "Mel, put them on and see if they work."

"Well here goes nothing," Melinda puts her glasses on again, "Hey! It works." An "Ow!" is heard and followed by an "I told you so."  

"Trish you did a great job.  I see both of you bathe in a white glow.  Well I guess that proves you're both good," Melinda couldn't help to add that last jibe.

"Hey I resent that," was heard from both of the offended witches.

Trish cautions, "You may not want to wear that in the halls or very crowded rooms.  You might get blinded by all that white."

"Well, I'll just wear them on and off to check things out and make sure nothing's lurking in the hallways and I can check out Jackson in first period…um…I mean make sure he's not evil or anything," she quickly amends the last part.

"Well, see this spell came out good.  It gave Melinda a reason to stare at that Jackson guy," Trish points out.  Alex and Trish laugh at this before they rush from Melinda's swinging arms.

"You know you can't run.  I know where you live," Melinda tries  to get them.  As soon as they get to the jeep, all is forgiven and forgotten, and they head off to another day of school.

_A/N:  So what does everybody think so far.  Good, bad, or forget about continuing.  Well, hopefully I'll have the next chapter by Saturday for those who liked it._


	4. Hmmm…That’s weird

_A/N:  Well, here's the next chapter.  Hope you like.  I'll try to get the next chapter by the end of this weekend.  And remember reviews!****___

**_Ch.3 Hmmm…That's weird_**

****

"Huh, I wonder where he is today," Melinda thought.  She was anxiously sitting at her desk.  She really wanted to prove to her family that he was an innocent to protect and maybe to prove to herself also.  "God, I will never forgive Trish for planting that little seed of doubt about Jackson.  Granted, he's a little quiet and shy around people but so am I.  That doesn't make me evil.  But he did try to steer any conversation about him toward something about us, and he rarely made eye contact during our lunch conversation.  Plus, every time we looked over to him, he was trying to pull his sleeves down, like he was trying to hide something, like…No!  I will not doubt that he's an innocent.  And Trish's own spell will prove it."

All through her mental debate with herself, Melinda did not notice that class had already started, and that the subject of her musings was already sitting on her right.  "Ms. Wyatt, could you please bring your mind back down from the clouds?  It's only the second day, you're already zoning out in my class.  It usually takes the normal student at least a week for that."  The class started to chuckle at this.  Melinda was quickly snapped back to reality, and now embarrassed with cheeks tinting with a slight blush.

"Um…sorry Mr. Martinez," Melinda apologizes.

"That's quite all right Ms. Wyatt.  Now everybody clear your desk and prepare for the quiz," Mr. Martinez said.  An unhappy class was now preparing for the quiz and clearing away their desk.  Melinda took a quick look over to her right to take a look at Jackson.  Melinda notices silently, "Huh, he's wearing another long-sleeve today.  I know it's not that cold.  In fact, it's kind of warm today.  Maybe he _is_ hiding something.  Well, I'll check it out after the quiz.  Don't want Mr. Martinez's attention again.  This time he might think I was cheating."

The quiz continued for about 15 minutes before everyone heard, "Stop!  Please make sure that your name is on the top of your paper and please pass them forward.  Mr. Flin, if you could please collect the quizzes and put them on the top of my desk."  Mr. Martinez turns to the blackboard and begins the day's lecture.

"Now's my chance," Melinda thinks to herself.  She takes her glasses out of her purse and puts them on.  First thing she notices is the sea of white halos, and she considers, "Well at least no hidden demons.  Now to take a look at Jackson…" As she turns to her right, something totally shocks her, making her stare at Jackson.  "This is not possible.  He doesn't have an aura.  No white, no black," Melinda thinks with amazement.

Through her glasses, she sees white to Jackson's left, right, front and back.  But he was reflecting no aura at all for her to see.  "Well this is weird and could be trouble.  What am I going to do now?  I was sure and still sure that he's an innocent, but this puts a twist on things."  She keeps staring at him, deep in thought.

Jackson sneaks a glance to his left, and notices that Melinda was still staring at him.  "Why is she doing this again?  It is making me really uncomfortable.  Oh, no! Maybe she can see the bruises.  But I made sure I have everything covered.  I'm wearing my long-sleeve and I have my hair down.  God, I hope she doesn't find out.  Why did I ever talk to her?  Dad was right I should never make friends.  But I've been so alone, and I just needed a friend.  Well this has to stop before anything happens," Jackson argues with himself.  He tries to pull down his sleeves further down and tries not to notice Melinda staring at him.

****

"Guys, it was so weird.  Jackson was not showing any aura.  It was like a blank spot on a radar," Melinda confides to her cousins, "But it doesn't prove he's evil, okay?  Maybe something is protecting him from magical detection."

Trish responds, "Well it doesn't prove he's good either.  Remember that story that our moms told about the witch hunters.  They have that amulet that protects them from magic.  Maybe it's something like that."

Melinda glares at Trish; "But Alex had a premonition about him so he can't be immune to all magic.  Well…we're still not sure.  So we still have to keep an eye out for him."

The others both agreed with her.  The trio spots Jackson coming into the lunchroom.  Melinda makes eye contact with him and waves him to come over to their table.  Jackson quickly takes his eyes away and moves to an empty table instead.  Melinda was concerned about this.

"Well, maybe he's shy," she tells the others and to reassure herself, "ummm, I'll just go over there real quick and see what's going on."

"Be careful Mel.  And make sure he doesn't do anything weird.  I know we're in a crowded room but you still don't know what powers he's got if he has any," Alex cautions.

Melinda turns to Alex and sees that he's not making any accusations or nagging.  She only sees concern.  "Okay.  I'll be careful but I'm sure he's an innocent.  Maybe I can get him over here again and you can see if you can get another premonition," assures Melinda.

Melinda walks over to Jackson's table and obviously having to a make a great effort to find the right excuses and words to get him to move over to their table.  "Maybe he doesn't like us…Maybe he doesn't like me…Maybe he's evil…Maybe I should stop talking to myself," Melinda says to herself trying to sort out teenage emotions and doubt of Jackson's innocence.  Finally getting to Jackson's quiet corner of the cafeteria, she was ready to use her plan to get him to the other table when she was interrupted before she could say anything.

"Please.  Leave me alone," Jackson said quietly.  He didn't look up from his food, but if he did, he would have seen the slightly hurt look on Melinda's face.

Melinda, not ready to give up, changes her attack plan.  She sits down next to Jackson and says, "Hey, what's wrong?  We Halliwells didn't scare you, did we?"  She continues, "I know I kind of came on strong but I really do want to be your friend.  I may not know what it feels like to be the new student in school but I just wanted to make sure you have friends here.  I mean you are sitting here by yourself so why not sit with us.  At least you won't be so alone."  The word 'alone' strikes a chord with Jackson, and he looks up at Melinda.

"Man, it would be nice to have some friends for a change.  It seems a long time since I had any.  And I really do like her.  But what if she finds out…" Jackson thinks.  He ponders for answer for a moment, and finally, he nods his head in consent.  He gives slight smile to Melinda.  Melinda blushes at this and starts to look at that nice stain on the table, to prevent any more embarrassment.

After the awkward second, Melinda unconsciously grabs Jackson's arm and says, "Well come on let's back to the others."  Melinda suddenly hears a gasp come from Jackson.  Suddenly she thinks about how forward her gesture was and looks up to say, "Oh! I'm sorry.  I'm kind of grabby today, aren't I…" She sees the bruises on his arm when her grab lifted a bit of his sleeve, "Hey, you're hurt.  Did you bump into something again?  Maybe you should go the nurse to take a look at your arm," Melinda says in concern.

"Umm…yeah…I just…uh…bumped into something…nothing to worry about," Jackson nervously replies.  He tries to cover his arms again.  "Let's just go to your cousins and forget about this, okay?" Jackson asks almost pleading.

Melinda not quite sure, replies, "Uh, yeah, let's go."

They get back to Alex and Trish.  Alex stands up and extends his hand out and says, "Hey, welcome back."  But Jackson avoids his hand and sits down next to Melinda.  He wanted to avoid any more of them finding about him.

But Alex thinks, "Okay that's weird that he's avoiding hand contact.  Maybe he knows that I have the power of premonition."  Alex shrugs and makes it seem like it didn't bother him.  "So, Jackson do you play any sports?"

Trish comments, "Ughh, please Jackson.  Don't get him started…Alex is a big sports guy.  Seeing him work out or play just makes me tired."  Alex responded by throwing a piece of balled up paper napkin.  Trish replies back by sticking her tongue back out.

Melinda leans over to Jackson, "Don't mind them," she says, "they're both very immature."  Two balls of paper napkin then attack her.  The three laugh at each other's antics.

"Hey, I don't mind.  It's great that you three have close family relationship.  All I have is my dad," and he adds silently to himself, "yeah, an always furious dad."  The lunch continues with each three getting to know Jackson a little bit better.  Jackson in return tries to open up a little bit more in the attempts of making friends.  Even though he decides to open up a little bit more, he still avoids any questions dealing with family life.  Alex and Trish warm to Jackson.  Trish finally lets go some of her hidden hostilities toward him, and finally accepts that he might be an innocent that they need to protect.

****

The three teenaged witches were walking down the steps, heading to the jeep.  Trish speaks up, "I've finally decided that Jackson is not a bad guy after all.  I think that he's innocent that we need to look after.  But I still believe when need to be careful.  Something weird is going on with him…My spell should have worked on him."

Melinda replies, "Thanks for changing your mind about him.  I have the feeling that he doesn't have a lot or any friends.  I think it's good idea that were hanging out around him."

"Not to rain on anyone's parade but did you notice that he avoided any contact with me.  I'm not saying that he knows about us but isn't that kind of unusual?  I was only trying to give him a handshake," Alex comments.

"Well, I think he doesn't want us to see he's bruise.  I accidentally lifted his shirtsleeve when we were at lunch and I saw the bruises.  I think he just doesn't want us to know that he's a clumsy person," Melinda answers back.  As they get to their vehicle, they see Jackson walking down the street alone.

"Hey, there's Jackson.  Maybe we can give a lift home and see if he lives by the building you saw in your premonition," Melinda states.

"Or you just want to see where he lives," Trish replies.

"You two should really stop teasing me about this.  Or I'll start airing both your dark little secrets to Dad," Melinda threatens in jest.

"Ohh…I'm soooo scared.  You know two can play at this game," Trish says back.

Alex trying to intervene, "Girls, girls, ease up here.  Let's just go and pick up Mel's boyfriend."  Melinda glares at Alex and just gets in the car.  Trish snickers at the Alex's comment.

They drive up to Jackson, and Melinda honks her horn and slows down to match Jackson's walking speed.

She rolls down her window and calls out to Jackson, "Hey, Jackson want a lift home?  It's free of charge."

Jackson looks up and thinks about showing anybody where he lives and decides go with his new found friends, "Sure…thanks a lot."  He gets in the jeep and sits next to Alex.  "I live only two more streets down and to the right.  You'll see an apartment complex, and that's where I live."

"I see that you've brought your economics book with you.  Reading for Friday's quiz?" Melinda asks trying to strike up a conversation.

"Yeah, I really bombed today's quiz so I need to study up," Jackson replies.

"Well maybe you and me can get together before the first major test and have a study session," Melinda asks.

"Yeah that would be great.  I would really like to spend some more time with you…I mean you know to study," Jackson trying to cover up his obvious crush on her.  He thinks, "I really need to stop making it obvious that I like her.  I don't even know if she likes me like that.  Plus, I wouldn't want her to find out about my home life."

Melinda looks at her rear view mirror to take a look at Jackson.  She noticed his slip up and thinks, "He does like me! Yes!"  Unbeknownst to the two, the other occupants of the jeep were trying to hide their obvious amusement over the lack of social graces of the two.

Trish tries to feed the fire, "You know Melinda has been trying and dying to ask you out…" she pauses for a brief moment and continues, "to study with her."  The two shocked faces of Jackson and Melinda at Trish's implication were too much for Alex and her that they burst out laughing.

After the laughing had stopped and the embarrassment cleared up, they noticed that they finally arrived at the apartment complex.  Alex looks up the building and notices that it's the same one from his premonition.

"Well thanks for the ride you guys," Jackson steps out of the jeep and turns to Melinda, "And Melinda, I would really like it if we went out…um…I mean out to study sometime."

"Yeah I would like that too," Melinda replies.  Inside, Melinda was jumping up and down with joy. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah see ya," Jackson replies.  Taking his eyes off Melinda, he turns to the other two, "I'll see you two later."

Trish replies, "Thanks for noticing us too.  I couldn't tell with you being blinded by Melinda's beauty over here." Jackson chuckles in embarrassment.  "But, everything is forgiven.  We'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah man, take care," Alex adds.  They see Jackson head toward the revolving doors.  Before he enters, they see him turn around and wave.  The trio wave back.

Once Jackson is inside the building Melinda turns to her cousins and says, "Thanks a lot for that.  It's hard enough that he's an innocent and I like him.  You two go and decide to blurt out that I like him."

Alex points out, "Hey don't point fingers at me.  It's _all_ Trish's fault."

Trish turns around and says, "Traitor."  The two start laughing at their childishness.  Melinda only sighs and turns back to the wheel ready to leave.  "Why did I get stuck with these two I'll never know," she tells herself.

Alex looks over the empty seat and sees that Jackson left his economics book.  He leans over to pick it up and receives a premonition in return.

::Flash::

Jackson in an apartment crouching, trying to raise arms in defense.  An older, bigger and angry man was abusing Jackson.

::Flash::

"Um…ladies, I think we have a problem," Alex states.__


	5. To Save an Innocent

A/N:  This next chapter delves into the subject of parental abuse.  Although it is not graphic but you feel uncomfortable about this subject please do not read this chapter.  You have been advised.

**_Ch. 4: It's One of Those Days_**

"Alex, what happened," Melinda asks worriedly.  "Was it the darklighter?  Is Jackson being hurt?  Come on tell me."  Melinda was giving off waves of worry.  Her eyes were pleading with Alex to hurry up and reveal his premonition.  She was practically on the edge of her seat.  "Please, we can't lose this innocent.  Not this innocent," Melinda pleaded silently.

"Calm down Mel," Trish said soothingly.  "Let Alex tell us what's going to happen."

"I've seen Mel have crushes before but she has _never_ acted like this.  Even when her last boyfriend was in that minor car accident, she was worried for sure but she wasn't hysterical," Trish reflected silently.

Alex tries to use an even tone so he doesn't set off Mel again, "It was bad but it's not what you were thinking.  I think Jackson lives with an abusive father.  And he will be acting out those aggressions right now on Jackson."

"Oh no!  We have to help him out!"  Melinda, a collected person normally, was ready to jump out the jeep and run to the apartment building.

Trish caught her arm and stopped her.  "Wait," she said, "maybe we should get help from the police.  This is domestic violence and not magical violence.  We can't barge in their using our powers when there's no demons to fight."

"No!  We can't waste the time.  What if he's hurt really badly?  And the fact that Alex had a premonition about it means we have to help him now."  Mel was ready to orb out with or without the others, when Alex put his restraining hand on her too.

"Wait Mel.  You have to calm down and think with a clear head. First of all we don't know which apartment he was in.  I only saw the inside of the apartment, and the complex is eight-floors high.  Second, you're the oldest so act like the mature person you always say you are," Alex reminds her.  His words were like a splash of ice-cold water in her face.  She had to reign in her emotions again and think clearly.  The two hands on her hand were anchors and reminders to keep her head straight.

"Thanks, I really need that.  You're right we don't know where he is, and we have to plan out what to do."  Melinda was still ready to burst out to leave but she was now planning on what to do.  She looked at her two cousins and was very thankful that they were there to remind her to keep the proper frame of mind.  She gave each one a nod of thanks.

She took two deep breaths in an effort to remain calm and to put on a stronger front.  With a pondering look on her face, she was trying to formulate a game plan.  There was only silence for a few moments in the jeep.  The other two just looked at each other but remained quiet to keep the uneasy calm from cracking.  "Okay, I've got it!"  Alex and Trish but jumped up in surprise at Melinda's cry.  "Since I'm part whitelighter and part witch and so is Trish, maybe we can concentrate on Jackson and orb where he is, like the way Dad orbs to his charge when they're in trouble," Melinda says with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Mel, that's a great idea.  I'm in," Trish agrees.  "Although I'm only a quarter whitelighter and can't orb, I will still give it my best to help our innocent and your boyfriend," Trish adds and giving Mel a small smile.

Melinda lets Trish's jibe pass and accepts her attempts to lighten the tense mood and gives her another nod in thanks.  Melinda was in witch business mode and was wholly focused on saving Jackson.  "Anybody have any ideas once we get there," Melinda asks.

"Yes.  I remembered this short spell from the Book.  It was suppose to only give a sleeping person a peaceful rest.  But I'm pretty sure if we all say it, we can give it a Power of Three boost that'll knock that guy out cold without leaving any evidence of a struggle and maybe leave him with no memory of the situation," Alex answers.

"Aww, you just took the fun away.  I really wanted to knock the abusive s.o.b. around with my telekinesis.  I wouldn't hurt him…much," Trish replies hotly.

"Not this time cousin, we need to be a little bit more discreet.  He _is_ only human," Alex points out.

"Yeah, but he's as evil as any demon," Melinda says coldly.  "Okay tell us the spell and we can get started."

Alex tells them the short spell and both girls quickly memorize it.  Trish and Mel take hold of each other's hand and concentrate on finding Jackson's location.  Alex waits patiently for them to find him.  At first both girls couldn't sense anything.  "Concentrate harder," Mel encourages.  Suddenly, there was an echo of pain and hurt tingling their senses.  With Trish's help, Mel quickly latches on to the emotions and zones in on Jackson's location.  Mel quickly grabs Alex's hand as she orbs everybody out of the jeep and toward Jackson.  Blue orbs quickly surround them as they headed toward their innocent.

****

Jackson was really happy about making some new friends.  "Nothing can ruin this for me.  Not even dad," he thought.  "Well, hopefully he doesn't find out.  I could never understand why he never wanted me to have friends.  Either we move too much for me to make friends or he scares them away.  God, I don't even know why I stay.  I'm old enough to leave.  I don't know why I take so much abuse from him.  Maybe something's wrong with me."  He takes his key out of his pocket and opens the door to their apartment.

As soon he enters, he hears, "You finally home boy!  Where have you been? Huh?"

"Nowhere.  I just came back from school," Jackson replies.

"Well get in here!" Jackson's father shouted.  Jackson could here the distinct drunken slur that was accompanying his father's speech.  "Oh god, I can't believe he's drunk again," Jackson thinks with disgust. "I _really_ don't understand why I don't just leave right now.  It's almost like something is stopping me.  Maybe it's the guilt. I don't know but maybe I should just go and never come back."  Jackson goes to the kitchen and finds a very drunk man.  Liquor bottles were strewn everywhere, and the air was saturated with the stench of alcohol.

"What're ya lookin', huh?" Jackson's dad demands.  The older man started to get up and lumber toward Jackson.  Jackson watched his dad make the drunken walk toward him with bottle in hand.  "I asked you a question.  I expect an answer.  And didn't I tell to clean this place up, huh?  Come on now answer me!  I swear your good for nothin'.  I don't even know why I keep you around."  His dad takes a swig of the hard liquor and glares at Jackson with bloodshot eyes.

"Man, what's wrong with him today?  I haven't even done anything, and he's really smashed today.  That's it I'm gonna leave," Jackson decides.  "You know what?  I don't know why I stay around here either.  You've treated me like crap for the last 13 years.  And I've taken the abuse.  God knows why I stayed but I've had it!"  Jackson yells.  He turns around ready to leave.  Suddenly a strong arm grabs his shoulder and swings him around forcefully.

"I didn't tell you to turn your back on me.  You should really learn some respect, **boy**," Mr. St. Claire threatens.  Jackson stands straight and squares his shoulders but his father can see an old fear in Jackson's eyes.  "Maybe I should teach you another lesson.  You should really learn some humility 'cause you know you might get **hurt**.And leaving?  I think not.  I think you haven't gotten through your thick head that you owe me everything!  I took you away from that orphanage and gave you a home, and this is the thanks I get.  Oh no!  It doesn't work that way, my boy.  No, it doesn't."  All the while his grip on Jackson's shoulder was getting harder and tighter.  Both men stood six feet tall but the Mr. St. Claire was noticeably more muscular, and he could definitely back the promise of abuse in his voice.  Jackson was cringing in pain but he wasn't backing down this time.

"Please, just let me go.  I'll pay you back for whatever you think I owe you.  But just let me go," Jackson says.  His voice was tinged with anger and fear.  He tries to get out of his adopted father's grip but that just made the older man grip harder.  He even put his other hand on Jackson's other shoulder.  He seemed like a man possessed.  In fact, his eyes glowed red and was quickly gone before Jackson could notice.

"You see **son**, it doesn't work that way.  I just can't let you go.  In fact I'm kind of worried where you're picking up this rebellious streak.  You haven't been telling your teachers about what's happening, have you?" Mr. St. Claire pauses but Jackson only responds with angry silence.  "No…you're right.  It couldn't be that 'cause you learned your lesson last time.  Noooo, it must be something else.  I know!  You must've picked up some new friends."  Jackson has nervous look in his eyes that gives him away.  "How many times did I have to tell you not to make friends?  They'll only let you down when you need them the most.  In fact, where are they now when I do this!"  Mr. St. Claire punctuates his drunken rant by forcefully shoving Jackson back on the refrigerator.  The wind is knocked out of Jackson's lungs.  He tries to get up but only slips back on the floor when his left foot rolls on a stray empty bottle.

"Please, just stop.  I won't go.  I won't tell anybody.  But please just stop," Jack pleads.  His strong façade has finally broken down, and only fear has taken its place.

"You see, Jack, it's too late for begging.  I have to teach you a lesson now.  You've got to learn that you shouldn't get away from me because I'm all you have left.  You have no friends or family except _me_.  Even your real parents left you all _alone_.  So now I have to make sure you learn that I'm your only friend, your only family," as the older man is saying this he's taken a hold of Jack's chin and gives him what seems to be a caring touch.  Jackson only has tears and fears in eyes.  And two seconds after Mr. St. Claire finishes talking, he simply hits Jack.  Jackson quickly covers his head with his arms before any more blows hit him.  After five minutes, the only sounds that were heard were the grunts, flesh hitting flesh, and the repetitive pleas for it to end.

The two never notice the three witches orb in behind them.  The three are appalled for a few moments that anything like this is happening.  But they quickly recover and began the chant:

"Hear our words, hear our call.

In Hypnos' arms you must fall."

As soon as they finished the spell, they saw the older man stop his beatings and then fall on the floor.  Trish uses her telekinesis to move the large man away from Jackson.  What faces them completely takes their breath away in shock.  They can't understand how the laughing young man talking to them in the jeep could turn into this frightened huddle.  They see Jackson covering his head crouched on the floor.  He was rocking back and forth and repeating, "Please stop…I won't go…please stop…"

At first Melinda couldn't move for heart was breaking at the overwhelming sight, but she recovers and immediately goes over to him and kneels down beside him.  She takes him into her arms and holds on tight.  She smoothes his long hair in a soothing manner.  "Hey, we're here.  You're safe, okay?  Nobody is going to hurt you ever again," Melinda says with a hitch in her voice.  She finally feels him relax and finds his arms has wrapped around her like a drowning man holding on to a lifeline.  Trish with tears in her eyes puts a supporting hand on Melinda's shoulder, while Alex stands next to them with arms crossed in anger.  They can't believe the harsh cruelty that an abusive parent can inflict on what is suppose to be their child.

Melinda feels Jack go limp in her arms and takes a look to see if anything is wrong.  She sees that he has fallen unconscious but breathing normally.  Either the shock or the pain has finally taken him out.

"Come on.  Let's go and take him to dad.  Make sure he's all right.  My healing powers only work for me so we need to take him back to the Manor," Melinda says in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, let's go before I do anything to that guy," Trish says.  She tries to wipe away her tears.  Alex comes over to her puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.  All Trish does is look up and puts a hand on top of his in a gesture of silent gratitude for the reassurance.

An unnatural laughter surprises the three witches out of their sadness.  They turn to look over to where Trish moved Mr. St. Claire, and find that he's floating off the floor by a couple of inches.  His eyes were glowing a fiery red and glaring at the three witches.  Trish waves her hand back, using her power, but the floating man only moved back a few inches but otherwise he seemed unaffected.  Melinda carefully puts Jackson on the floor and stands up.  She raises her hands up and tries to freeze the 'man' but he only laughs.

"Ahhh!  The next Charmed Ones. What?  Is something wrong?  Powers not working?  Don't even try Alexander Cole Halliwell," he turns to Alex with a baleful gaze.  He sees Alex with what looks like an blue energy ball in his hands.  The girls were amazed that this person knew their names.  "It's not like it's going to affect me.  I know you've inherited only one of your father's powers.  And it's only a pale comparison to a full demon's powers.  An energy ball that could only stun.  Ha! Pathetic!  Put that away before you embarrass yourself.  I see that my 'son' has made friends with some witches.  I wonder if he knew.  It doesn't matter.  All that matters is you have ruined my plans."

Alex makes the "stun" ball disappear and shouts back, "Who are you?"

"What?  The Charmed Ones don't know?  Apparently you're not as well trained as I thought.  If you must know, I'm the Source," Source states arrogantly.  The cousins are shocked by the news and quickly grab each other hands to cast the Source vanquishing spell.

"Prudence, Patricia…" before the Charmed Ones could continue, the Source interrupts them, "Please save your breath.  That old spell won't be working on me.  You see I'm only possessing the body of one James St. Claire.  My demonic manifestation is somewhere you can _never_ find.  And secondly, I **am** the most powerful Source that the Underworld has ever witnessed.  Your hopeless spells and ineffective powers are no match for me."  The Source tosses 'his' head back and laughs gratingly.

Melinda glowers at him.  She shouts, "If you're _so_ powerful.  Then why beat up on an innocent.  He's obviously weaker than you."  She gives him a condescending look.

"You see _witch_," the Source saying the word 'witch' like it's something vile, "My collection of evil seers has foreseen that boy doing great things.  Great things that would affect me directly.  They couldn't clearly see if it was for my benefit or not because something was blocking their vision.  So I took possession of this man in order to bend Jackson to my will.  But something was blocking my influence on him.  I could only prevent him from leaving this mockery of a family but I had almost broken him until you three stepped in."  Again he gives them an evil look but as quickly as anger appeared on his face in quickly left and was replaced by a small smile.

"Well since I obviously can't continue with this plan.  I'll just have to fall on a contingent one.  Well I no longer have use for this human or this conversation so I will take my leave.  Until we meet again," the Source said ominously.  The man falls back on the floor, and the sleep spell broken.  He looks around in confusion as if he has awoken from a horrible dream.  Before either parties could approach each other, the man gave out a horrendous cry of pain as he was consumed in demonic fire.  All that was left was a pile of ashes.

"That bastard!" exclaimed Trish.

Alex replies, "It wasn't enough that he had to ruin two lives but he took one of those lives just out of spite for us."

"I'm worried that this Source already has leg up on us.  He knows a lot about us, and we know nothing about him except what Dad has said," Melinda says in worry.  "Well, we have to get back to the Manor with Jackson and see if we can't sort everything out."  Melinda took Trish's and Jackson's hands while Alex places his on her shoulder.  Then, she orbs all of them back to their jeep.  It was getting late, and they really need to talk to their whitelighter.  They placed the unconscious Jackson in a seat, keeping him comfortable as possible, and they headed home.  Everyone in the vehicle was uneasy.  The Source has finally revealed himself to them, and it's obvious that it was going to be a treacherous road ahead of them.


	6. A Helping Hand

Ch. 5: A Helping Hand 

The jeep parked on the driveway, and the occupants just stayed in the vehicle in shock.  None of them could speak to each other or believe what just happened.  All was quiet for a few moments, and all were in silent reflection.  Melinda was the quickest to recover.

"Come on everybody.  Let's snap out of it.  We still need to take care of Jack," Melinda tells the other two.  She turns to them and sees the reflection of the same down trodden feelings that she is experiencing.  "Come on.  Let's go into the Manor."

"Yeah…we should get him inside.  If you want, I can use my powers to move him inside.  It's dark enough that people shouldn't notice, and we can take the back way," Trish offers.

"Yeah that would be great.  Thanks," Melinda replies.  She turns in concern to Alex who was still deep in thought, "Hey Alex, you ok?"

He shakes head to clear his thoughts and responds, "Yeah, I'm fine.  Don't worry about me.  You know, I was just thinking…about stuff."  Alex looks up and tries to give a reassuring smile.  "Come on.  Let's get inside and make sure Jack's all right."

"Ok.  Trish you ready?" Melinda asks.

"Yeah.  You guys should run interference just in case there's passing cars or people walking," Trish answers.  The three get out of the automobile and head to Jack's side of the jeep.  Melinda and Alex block the view of anybody looking from the street while Trish opens the door.  Melinda and Alex keep watch of the road but they turn their head back occasionally to check on Trish's progress and Jackson's condition.  Trish reaches over to unbuckle Jacks seatbelt and notices that he was sweating, trembling and shaking his head back and forth.  Trish says in a quiet and calming voice, "Hey, it's going to be all right Jack.  We're just going to move you inside."  As if he heard her, he calmed down noticeably.  Melinda looks on with concern, and Alex gives her arm a squeeze.  Trish takes a step back and cups her hand in the air; miming the position her arms would be if she were going to physically move him.  She gently pulls with her power and slides Jack out of the car.  She then turns her hands over and makes a flattening motion.  Jackson straightens as if he was on a bed.

"Ok, guys we're ready to move," Trish tells the other two.  The three quickly move Jack inside the house.  They go pass the kitchen and head to the living room.  Trish gently lowers Jack down on their sofa.  Melinda rapidly goes down by his side and holds on to his hands.  She gently rubs his hand and gives him whatever comfort she can give.  She moves back one of his sleeves to see some of the damage.  She gasps at what she finds.  Melinda can see the new bruises forming but she could also evidence of old scars and old pain.  She's crying for the hurt that was done to him.

Seeing his condition, Alex calls out, "Uncle Leo!  Please we need your help!"  He tries to put all the need in his voice in hope that his uncle would get there as soon as possible.

Leo arrives in swirl of blue lights.  He turns to his three young charges and sees a fourth lying on the sofa.  "What happened here?  Did any of you get hurt?" Leo asks worriedly.  He sees his daughter kneeling and crying next to the young man on the sofa.

"Please Dad, can you heal him?" Melinda pleads.  Leo can hear the sadness in her voice and moves toward to what he surmises is their innocent.

"Sure honey.  No problem," says Leo to reassure his daughter.  He places his hands over the young man and his glow a golden yellow.  He can detect some fractured bones, a lot of bruises, some bleeding, a sprained ankle, and a slight concussion.  "But wait, what's wrong? Why isn't he healing?" Leo asks himself.  He turns his head to others with confusion in his eyes.  "I can't seem to heal him," Leo tells them in worry.  "It seems like there's a powerful ward on him.  The magic just seems to slide off of him."

"What're we going to do Dad?" Melinda pleads.

"We may need to take him to the hospital.  He needs somebody to look at these injuries," Leo recommends.

"No we can't!  They'll ask questions we may not be able to answer, and he'll be vulnerable to the Source at a hospital," Melinda protests.  Leo looks at her with shock at the mention of the Source but he quickly recovers.  He's deep in thought trying to think of a way around their problem.

Leo looks up them and with answer to their dilemma, "Well, powerful wards are very hard to do. They're done either with very powerful dark magic or a very intricate ritual spell.  In this case since it was done on a person, it would have to have been a close blood relative, usually a parent.  Now, I recall a Power of Three spell that can break this type of strong magic.  I suggest we move to the attic."  

"Wait.  If we remove the warding, he'll be vulnerable to magical attacks," Alex cautions.

"It doesn't matter.  We're here to protect him now.  And we need to heal him," Melinda replies back.

"Okay.  I just wanted make sure you know," Alex says.  Melinda nods her head in understanding and Trish with agreement.

"Okay.  Since we all agree.  Let's orb him up," Leo says.  All hold hands and Leo and Melinda place their hands on Jackson as they orb up to the attic.  Alex quickly goes to the Book of Shadows and flips through its pages.  The others carefully move Jackson on a divan.

Leo calls out to Alex and says, "To turn to the warding ritual page, go a couple pages after the protection spells."  Alex quickly goes to the page Leo points out.  "Found it!" Alex says successfully.  The others except Melinda, who stays by Jackson's side, go over to Alex.  They read over the materials needed and the spell to be cast.  Thankfully all the needed materials were in their kitchen.  Trish goes down and grabs all the things they need.  While Melinda is kindly asked to write down the spell that's needed.  Alex and Leo move Jackson to the clearing on the attic floor.

"Ok got'em.  So what do I do with them," Trish says as she returns.  Jars in hand, she goes over to Melinda.

"Ok.  You need to grind the mustard seed and pepper into a fine powder and then add it to the buckwheat flour.  Then you need to pour it around Jackson in the form a circle," Melinda reads from the Book.  Trish goes over to a table with a mortar on it and goes about her task.  Alex goes to find three gray colored candles and places them around Jackson in a triangular shape.  Trish, finished with her powder, goes over and makes the circle around Jackson and the candles.

"Okay I'm done," Melinda says as she tears the paper into thirds and gives the others their part of the spell.  Alex lights the candles, being careful not to disturb the circle.  The three take their positions at the points of the triangle formed by the candles.  Leo is prepared on the side to heal as soon as the spell has been cast.

Melinda informs them, "Okay.  Trish you will start the spell and then Alex and then me.  As soon as I finish, we must sweep away our third of the circle and then step forward and blow out  the candles that are each in front of us.  Got it?"

"Yeah."  "Sure."  The other two reply.

"Ok Trish begin," Melinda instructs.

Trish recites,

"We wish for the undoing

To reach what has been warded."

Alex continues,

"We release this warding

To free what has been guarded."

Melinda finishes,

"With our power and with this spell,

We unleash and dispel."

The three move forward and sweep and break the circle, and they move to blow out the candles.  As soon as they finish the spell, pinpoints of yellow light lift from Jackson's body and swirl in a vortex above them and then disappear.  Leo steps in and heals Jackson proving the un-warding successful.  A sigh of relief could finally be exhaled.

"Alex help me out, and we'll take him to your room.  I hope you don't mind," Leo says.

"No Uncle Leo, I don't mind.  I'll just take some blankets and a pillow to the couch downstairs," Alex replies.  Leo takes Jack's upper body, and Alex grabs his legs.

"Hey, be careful with him.  Okay?" Melinda tells them with concern.  "I'm just going to clean this stuff up."  Melinda turns around and starts to clean up.  Trish silently bends down and starts helping her out.

"You _really_ like him.  Don't you?"  Trish asks casually as if she hadn't dropped a bombshell.  Melinda drops one of the candles in surprise.  She turns to Trish and gives her an astonished look.

"Was I that obvious?" Melinda asks with a slight cringe.

"Obvious?  You have to be kidding me.  You were practically falling apart around the seams over this guy," Trish replies.  They both stand in front of each other after they finish cleaning up. Trish was waiting for Melinda to answer back.  Melinda was just fiddling with the gray candle in her hand.

Melinda looks up, sighs, and answers her, "I don't know what to tell you.  I just have this feeling when I'm around him.  I won't call it love but yeah I _really_ like him.  But I think it's something more.  It feels like we were supposed to meet…not just him and me but meet all of us.  Do you get what I mean?"  She looks into Trish eyes seeking understanding.

"All I get is that you have a huge liking for this guy.  But yeah, it's weird an innocent like that was warded with a whammy.  Maybe he's supposed to be warded against magic until he's ready for whatever he's supposed to do in the future.  Well, I guess now it's _us_ that will be guarding him since there's no more wards.  That's just a guess, I don't know I'm not the on you should be asking about what's supposed to happen or meant to happen.  You should be talking to Mr. Premonition down there helping your father.  Come on, enough of this girl heart to heart, and let's go check on your boyfriend."  Trish gives Melinda a sly grin.

Melinda makes a shy smile and says, "Yeah sure let's go." The two girls put candles up and threw away the used spell powder.  They moved toward the door and headed toward Alex's room.  When they got to his room, the two guys were just finishing up and making sure Jack was comfortable.

"Now," Leo gives his three charges a lecturing pose, "would anyone of you like to explain what's going on?  You should have told me that you had innocent to protect _and met the Source."  The three gave him abashed looks._

Alex spoke up, "Well, I had the premonition but we thought we could handle it.  Actually I had two premonitions where Jackson was in trouble.  Although, the first one hadn't happened yet, which is odd considering it would make my premonitions out of order.  The first one had him with a darklighter whispering in his ear on top of a building.  At first, we thought," Melinda coughs at this moment, "I mean Trish and I thought that Jackson was the Source or working for the Source.  But talking to him and me seeing the second premonition proved us wrong."

"Okay, let me get this straight, you have an innocent whose name is Jackson.  And apparently attracts trouble," Leo says.

"But that's not what should be worrying you, Dad," Melinda continues.  "He was being broken and twisted by the Source or at least the Source was trying."  The four hear a groan come from the bed.

"Maybe we should take this downstairs Dad," Melinda suggests calmly.

"Fine, let's go," Leo says calmly trying to get back in control after all the dreadful news.  He leads the three witches downstairs and into the living room.  The three sit down while Leo paces back and forth in front of them.  After a few minutes, he stops and takes a look at them.

"Okay, I'm very shocked that you faced the Source this early.  But I'm relieved that you're all fine and saved an innocent from the Source.  What did the Source want with this Jackson?  And how the heck did you get away?" Leo asks.

"Well, dad we didn't know that the Source was going to be there.  We thought that his abusive father was hurting Jackson.  We thought it was weird that Alex had a premonition about something that seemed non-mystical but I…uhhh…kind of persuaded the others to go in there instead of calling the police."

"What do you mean 'kind of persuaded'?" asks Leo with a suspicious voice.

"What she means is she wanted to mount a rescue for her boyfriend," Trish replies casually.  Melinda turns and pinches Trish.  "Ow!  What'd you do that for?  Uncle Leo would have found out anyway," Trish says.

"Now Melinda, you know we're try not get involved with our innocents," Leo lectures his daughter.

"I meet him before all this happened and plus we haven't done anything…yet.  But that's beside the point. We're losing focus here and that's the Source.  He's immune to our powers, and he's really powerful.  I think the only reason he didn't kill us off the bat was because he was mocking us.  Plus I think he was really distracted that he didn't accomplish what he came for, and that was to take control of Jackson," Melinda tells her father.

"I still don't understand what he would want with Jackson," Leo says in puzzlement.

"The Source said that he's suppose to do something great in the future, so he was trying to control or at least break him so he won't work against him," Trish adds.

"Well let me see with the Elders and see if I can't get some information from them," Leo says.  He orbs away leaving the three behind.

"So what're we going to do about the Source.  You know he won't stop and until he kills us," Trish says in concern.

"I don't know Trish.  The spell our moms made didn't work so we have to come up with something new and even more powerful to defeat him.  I just don't know what that would be," Melinda says.

"Maybe your father will find out something up there," Alex says.

"Yeah, maybe.  I'm going up to check on Jackson," Melinda says, "I suggest that we get to rest.  We can't do anything right now and there's still school tomorrow."  The two grimaced at the mention of school but gave their assent to the inevitable.  The three go upstairs and  separate to their respective destinations.  Trish goes into her room, Alex heads to closet to get some blankets and a pillow, and Melinda heads toward Jackson in Alex's room.  Melinda goes into the room and finds the bed empty.

"Guys!  We have a problem," Melinda calls out.  "Okay, Melinda, stay calm.  You found him once, you can find him again," Melinda tells herself to calm down.  "Where could he be?"

"Hey Mel.  What's wrong?" Alex rushes to his room.  Trish follows close behind him.

"He's gone.  Do you think somebody took him?" Trish asks.

"I don't know but we have to track him down again.  Ready Trish?" Melinda asks.

"Yeah sure," Trish replies.  They hold each other's hands again and try to trace where Jackson went.  Since they've sensed him before, it was easier for them to locate him.

"Okay we've found him.  Alex take my hand and let's go," Melinda instructs.  The three orb again in order to find their lost friend.  They find themselves on top of a building.  They start look around and find Jackson standing on the edge with a dark clothed man standing next to him.

"There!  I'm going to freeze them," Melinda says.  She feels anger at the darklighter and fear for Jackson's safety.  She waves her hands but nothing froze.  Instead the darklighter explodes in blue orbs.  The motes of light swirl around in the general area where the darklighter was standing.  Melinda, shocked at the unexpected result drops her hands.  The blue swirls reform back into the darklighter.  The darklighter kneels down at the disorientation, and then looks up.

"You!  The Source will be most pleased if I destroy you all,"  the darklighter threatens.  He summons his crossbow, and it appears in black smoke.  He aims and fires at Melinda.

"I don't think so," Trish shouts.  With a wave of her hand, she takes control of the bolt and swings it around.  The bolt embeds itself in the darklighter's right shoulder.  Fearing death from the witches, the darklighter blinks away in pain.  The three step forward carefully.  They've noticed that Jackson had not stepped away from the edge yet.

"What's wrong with him?" Melinda asks fearfully.

"I think I know.  Remember in my premonition.  A darklighter was whispering in his ear.  What if he was influencing him? By magic," Alex whispers back.  As they move closer, they can hear mumbling from Jackson.  They move closer to hear what he's saying.

"I'm completely alone now.  I have no one.  I have no one.  It's better this way.  Nobody is going to miss me anyway," Jackson whispers to himself.

Melinda firmly says, "You're wrong.  I'm going to miss you.  You're our friend, and you need to realize that."  Jackson turns around with a blank look in his eyes, and then turns back around to look at the ground below.

Alex points out, "It looks like he's still under a spell or something.  We need to snap him out of it and fast."

Jackson interrupts, "I don't have anybody.  I don't friends.  I don't have family.  My own real parents abandoned me.  And now, the only father I knew is gone.  Life is pointless."  Then with arms spread wide he jumps off.

"No!!" the three screamed.  Melinda's reflex kicks in and orbs to grab him.  Blue lights streak downward toward Jackson and envelopes him.  The lights swing back up to the others, and then rematerialize.  Melinda is kneeling on the rooftop with Jackson in her arms.  Alex and Trish quickly go over to them.  They see Jackson open his eyes with a confused look on his face.

"Oh god, what happened?" Jackson asked in dread.

"What do you remember?" asks Trish.  Melinda helps Jackson to stand up.

"I'm not quite sure.  It's such a mess in my head," Jackson replies in distressed.  "I remember my father hurting me.  And then I remember Melinda."  He looks up at her.  She gives him a warm smile but he returns it with confusion on his face.  "Then I just remember the pain.  After a while, I thought I heard some chanting and then just feeling good.  Then I woke up in my dad's apartment.  Something in my head kept on telling me my dad was dead, and it was all my fault.  After that all I could feel was the pain and the loneliness."  He turns away from them and hugs himself to push back the cold and the pain as well.

Jackson feels a touch on his shoulder and turns around.  "Hey, we're here now, and we're going to help you," Melinda comforts.  She takes him into her arms and tries to give him more solace.  It was awkward at first with the height difference and Jackson being unresponsive.  He was trying very hard not to breakdown in front of everybody, and especially a girl he likes.  Melinda taking him into her caring arms broke the emotional barrier.  He returns her embrace and sheds some tears.  After a couple of minutes of the emotional release, he slowly, even reluctantly, removes himself from Melinda's hold.

"Thanks.  I knew that it would be a good idea to make friends with you three," Jack announces.  He looks down at Melinda and smiles.  She could tell that Jackson still had sadness in his eyes but she trusts that he now has hope in his heart.  Melinda returns his smile, and they're eyes lock.  After a few brief moments, they were interrupted by a cough.

"Okay, soooo…since we're done here why don't we go back to the Manor," Trish says.  She gives the other two a knowing glance.  The two could only redden by their display of obvious liking for each other.

"Would you like to get some things from your apartment?" Melinda asks.

"No…I'm not ready to go back there yet.  I'm just…not ready," Jackson replies.  The reminder of the apartment sends shivers down his back.  He knows something weird is going on, and along with what happened in the apartment, he couldn't make himself go back.  He just wanted to leave.

Melinda notices the shaking so she grabs his hand.  "Hey don't worry about.  We can do it some other time.  Come on we'll take you back to the Manor with us."

"Wait.  How did you all get here?" Jackson asks in confusion.

"Do you trust us?" Melinda asks.  She looks straight into his eyes.

"Sure.  You three have been really nice to me when nobody has been.  Not for a long time anyway," Jackson replies.  Jackson notices Melinda turn head to her cousins.  They give her a look that says 'Are you sure?'  She gives them a nod.

"Please, keep an open mind, ok?  Not a lot of people know about this, and we're trusting you with our secret," Melinda says seriously.

Jackson looks even more confused.  "Okay you guys are confusing me even more.  I just wanted to know how you got here.  And now you're really making me nervous."

"Maybe it's better if we show you," Melinda says.  She beckons to the other two hold her other hand.  She makes sure she has firm,  but not tight, grip on Jackson.

"Show me wha…" before Jackson could finish they were vanishing in blue lights.  Melinda had orbed them back to the Manor.


	7. Clearing the Air

**_Ch. 6:**_ Clearing the Air_**_**

Blue orbs of light descend in the living room of the Halliwell Manor.  Three witches look up at a fourth person, a very surprised and shocked person.

"How'd you that?" asks Jackson.  He removes his hand from Melinda's grasp and steps away from the trio.  A mixture of confusion and surprise was on his face.  The three were now unsure if revealing their secret was a good idea.

"Please, don't be scared," Melinda appeals.  She steps forward with arms up gesturing at him to calm down.  Jackson steps back a little bit to keep a slight distance.  Melinda was hurt but she understood that these were not normal circumstances.

"I'm not scared.  I'm…I don't know what I am but one's thing for sure you three have some explaining to do.  I said I trusted you so now prove that I was right in trusting you.  Tell me the _whole truth," Jackson replies as he was trying to remain calm and not bolt out the nearest door._

"You may want to sit down.  It's going to be a long story," Melinda says.  The three take turns in revealing the magical world that's hidden from the ordinary world.  They go into the Warren bloodline and what it means to be a witch.  They talk about the briefer history and legacy of the Charmed Ones.  They talk about demons, warlocks, magic, potions, and spells.

"So let me get this straight.  You three are suppose to be magical witches, and you're not any regular witches but the next Charmed Ones, three of the most powerful witches there are, and you save the world from the forces of evil on a weekly basis with spells and potions, right?" Jackson asks.  The three just nod their heads.  "So now let me guess, I'm now an innocent that you have to protect, right?"  Again the three nod.  "Okay so here are my real questions, what makes me so special?  And who or what are you protecting me from?" Jackson asks.  Jackson turns to the three, and then looks at Melinda straight in the eye.  He seems them standing uneasily like they weren't sure if they should reveal that much information.  Melinda decides to go ahead and tell him everything.  She sits down next to him and takes his hand.

"Okay, what're I am going to tell you may be a lot to take in.  Even more surprising that what we've already told you," Melinda says.  She gives Jack a serious look.  Jackson nods his head for her to go on.  "We've found out that one of our most powerful enemy, the Source, has resurfaced to take control of the Underworld."

"Who or what is the Source? And where is this Underworld?" Jackson asks.

Alex answers, "The Source is a very powerful hateful being.  He's so strong that he can keep order to what normally would be backstabbing demons, warlocks and darklighters.  That's why he's called the 'Source'…he's the source of all evil."

Trish pipes in, "And the Underworld is just the collective name for all those evil baddies.  Sometimes it literally means _underworld."  She points downward to emphasize her meaning._

"So what's that have to do with me?" Jackson asks.  He turns back to Melinda to get more answers.

"This maybe hard for you to believe but your adopted father was being controlled by the Source.  He's the one after you.  He's the one who has been hurting you.  He's the one that killed your adopted father.  And he was the one keeping you there in that environment," Melinda explains to Jackson.  Jackson felt anger, sorrow, and hurt.  Melinda notices the emotions in his face and moved to give him a small hug.  Jackson's looks at her and gives her a poignant smile.

Emotion in his voice, Jackson says, "I knew something was wrong.  When I was younger, I _was in a loving family.  A caring couple adopted me.  But when I turned eight, everything started going downhill.  My adopted mother left without a trace.  And my father wasn't able to keep a job for any period of time.  He also started to drink heavily.  He didn't use to have a temper but when all these things started happening, he was always angry.  A lot of that was directed at me.  But I always thought it was my fault or I thought something was wrong with me.  I never told anybody.  He made sure I would never tell anybody.  I don't know how, but he managed to scare any possible friend I could make too.  Sometimes I think it was because of me.  Sometimes I blame my real parents for abandoning me."  The three still can't believe physical and emotional damage that was done to Jackson._

Melinda, still holding Jack's hand, gives him a consoling squeeze.  "Nobody is to blame except the Source.  And we'll do anything in our power to keep you safe."

"Yeah for all you know all that was done by the Source to break your will.  To make it easier for him to control you," Trish says.

"What do you mean control me?" Jackson asks.

"Well, he wanted you because he had information about your future.  Something you will do," Alex replies.

"But I can't do anything.  I mean you guys are the ones that are special.  I'm just a regular guy" Jackson looks at the three but he gets a feeling like he missed something.  "Right?  I _am good old non-magical me, right?"_

"Well…" Trish says.

"Well what?" Jackson demands.  The others are getting uncomfortable because they're unsure how to answer or what to answer with.

"Well you see we don't know yet,"  Leo says from behind.  Nobody had noticed Leo had orbed in.  All four were surprised when they heard his voice.  Jackson turns to see a man that looked to be around late 20's or early 30's.  He noticed that Melinda and the older guy had some of the same facial features and the same colored eyes.

"And what's our guest doing up?" Leo asks.

"Well you see Dad, after you left, we found Jackson missing, and we went to look for him.  I think he was caught in one of the Source's little plots but we got there in time," Melinda explains.

"Dad?" Jackson thinks, confused.  "Isn't he a bit young to have an 18-year old daughter."

"I take it that you've explained everything to him already," Leo states.  The father in Leo notices that his daughter was holding hands with Jackson.

"Yeah.  Well actually we were in the middle of explaining things to him when you popped in," Melinda says.  She sees the direction her father's eyes were taking.  She quickly lets go of Jackson's hand and stands up shortly after.  "Oh! I almost forgot.  Dad this is Jackson.  Jackson this is my Dad and our whitelighter."

"Oh.  Nice to meet you sir," Jackson goes over and shakes Leo's hand.  "Well that explains why he looks young," Jack thinks.

"Good to see you awake and well," Leo says.  Done with the pleasantries, Leo asks, "So how much have they told you?"

"Well they were going to tell me why the Source wanted me but I still don't understand why he just didn't take over my mind like he did with my adopted father," Jackson says.

Leo answers, "We believe one of your real parents or both were possibly witches that put a very powerful protective ward that guarded you against all magic.  Unfortunately or fortunately, depends on how you look at it, we had to remove that warding so that I could heal you after you were injured tonight."

"So that was the wonderful feeling I felt when I was out," Jackson reveals in astonishment.

"Yes, you're probably right," Leo confirms.

"But if one of my parents was a witch, doesn't it make me a witch too?  I don't think I am, and I've never had any special abilities or anything," Jackson states.

"Hey, I didn't realize that," Trish says in surprise.  Melinda and Alex were equally surprised that they never noticed that.  "Maybe it skips a generation or something like that," Trish suggests.

"Well, the Elders are not sure either but since the warding was lifted, the Elders can see that you are destined to do a lot off good things," Leo tells Jackson.  Jackson was shocked speechless.

"But if the Elders could see his destiny couldn't the opposite team do the same thing?" Alex asks in concern.

"That's probably why he was taken tonight," Melinda answers.

After recovering from the news, Jackson asks, "How am I going to protect myself?  Where am I supposed to go?"  He had a worried look on his face.  "What's good a destiny when I won't be able to protect myself from this Source person?"

"Well I have some more news from the Elders.  They tell me that we're now supposed to keep watch of you and protect you.  It's now our responsibility since we did take away your original protection.  I've decided then to ask you to live here in the Manor," Leo announces.

"I don't know what to say.  This is totally unexpected," Jackson stammers.  He wasn't sure what to do but he had nowhere else to go.  He had no family or a job.  Whatever money his father had was rapidly dwindling.  He still hasn't finished high school, and now some incarnation of evil was after him.

"How about just saying 'thank you'" Trish suggests.

"Thanks." Jackson says simply.  He was still reeling from the shock.

"You'll be rooming with Alex, and we'll do some rearranging so that you two will get the biggest room since you are sharing one," Leo states.  "But for tonight, you'll be sleeping in Alex's bed and Alex will stay down here.  Is that fine with everybody?" Leo asks.  Everybody nods in agreement.

"Jack, you can borrow some of my things for school tomorrow," Alex states.

"Thanks that would be great," Jack replies.

"After school we can stop by the apartment and pick up some of your things," Melinda proposes.  "Unless you're still uncomfortable about going there."

Jackson has pensive look but replies, "Yeah we should go.  I have to get things eventually and settle things with the landlord."

"Are any of you hungry?  I came prepare a quick dinner," Leo asks.  Everybody responds that they're too tired.  "Well, then I suggest everybody go to sleep.  There's still school tomorrow."

"Jack, I'll go show you where my room is," Alex says.  The two head upstairs first with Alex leading Jack.  Leo beckons for Melinda and Trish to stay behind.  He waits until he's sure that Jackson is out of earshot.

"We'll wait for Alex to come back down but I need to talk to you three further," Leo alerts the two girls.

"Dad, that was really nice of you to help out Jackson," Melinda says gladly.  She goes over to him and gives her father a hug.  "It really meant a lot to me."

"Now, I know you like this person.  And I've seen how you've acted around him.  I don't want you rushing things with him.  _Especially in the house," Leo says in his parental voice.  Melinda blushes at being treated like she was still 15.  Trish just snickers in the background._

"Dad!!" Melinda admonishes.  "I can't believe you're talking about this right now.  You know we _still have more important things to talk about."_

"Hey, I'm still you're father.  And I just want to make sure everything is clear.  I just want to make sure that you're sure about Jack," Leo says.  He sees his daughter giving him an 'I can't believe we're still talking about this' look.  Leo just smiles at her.  He sees Alex heading toward them, and Leo says, "Okay relationships aside, let's get back to some seriousness."  Alex moves closer to the conversing group.  Leo continues, "I was being kind in offering Jackson to stay here but you also know that he doesn't have his warding any longer.  The Elders were pretty adamant that you three should protect him.  They believe that he still needs to be protected from the Source.  They're still not sure what he's suppose to do but they made it clear that protecting him is of the utmost importance.  They believe he will be instrumental in bringing this new Source down."

"But how Dad, he doesn't magical training at all," Melinda points out.

"Yeah, he doesn't even have powers to use against the Source or to protect himself with," Trish adds.

"He might do a lot of good in the world.  Maybe that'll weaken the Source's power base," Alex speculates.

"Well nobody is for sure yet.  You know how destiny's can sometimes twist or change so the future isn't very clear.  But one thing's for sure he has to stay alive, and we have to protect him from the Source," Leo says adamantly

"How can we?  We couldn't even affect the Source, and not even a Power of Three spell could take him down," Melinda warns.  Alex and Trish nod their heads in agreement.  Leo gives them a worried look but then his face turns thoughtful.  The other three are curious by what has suddenly caught their whitelighter's attention.

"I think I may have an answer.  I don't know why I haven't realized it yet," Leo says.  The other are now completely lost.  They have no idea what Leo is talking about.  They turn to each other and just shrug at each other.  Melinda turns back to his father.

"What haven't you realized, Dad?" Melinda asks.  Leo was now pacing back and forth in front of them.  He responds, "Well I remember the Elders telling me something when you three first got your powers."

"Let me guess it was cryptic and oh so mysterious like all their messages" Trish replies dryly.  Leo gives his youngest charge a reproving look.  Granted he thought the message was puzzling at the time.

"Well, they were telling me about a fourth witch.  They said a fourth will be needed to strengthen the power and the bond that you three shared.  At the time I was grieving too much about the loss of your mothers and worried about preparing you three to become full time witches that it slipped my mind.  Now all that has happened got me thinking," Leo explains.

"Thinking what, Uncle Leo?" Alex asks.  Melinda's eyes go round as she figures out where her dad is leading.  She divulges, "Dad thinks that Jackson is the fourth.  Right?"  She looks at her father for confirmation.

"Yes, Mel but what's got me confused is why hasn't he…" before Leo could finish, they heard Alex gasped.  It looked like he was having a premonition.  After a few seconds, they see him straighten with a vacant look in his eyes.  He starts speaking:

"Children of Three,

Prepare for the hour.

The fourth must be free

To strengthen the Power."

After he finishes, he drops to his knees gasping.  Melinda and Trish help him up to the couch.  "Are you all right?"  Leo asks in alarm.  Alex nods his head for an okay.  "What happened?" Leo questions.

After catching his breath, Alex responds, "It was like I was receiving a premonition.  But instead I got a compulsion to say what I said.  Maybe it was because I was the most receptive for psychic messages that I was chosen to say it."

"But I think it helps," Leo says.  "I think that gives a clue about why Jackson has no magical abilities.  It said that the fourth had to be freed.  So what does that imply?"

"It implies that he's constrained and restricted," Trish suggests.  Then, she looks up in excitement and jumps up and down like a little girl who just got a present.  She says eagerly, "In other words he's bound.  His power and magic are bound just like ours were.  But why would anyone do that?"  Trish looks up at Leo in question.  She sees her uncle in deep thought again.

"Something is not adding up here.  I think the Elders are holding something back.  I'm going to check with them.  But I suggest you three go ahead rest for the night.  I'll talk to everybody in the morning," Leo says.

"Dad before you go can you ask what happened to my powers this evening," Melinda asks.  "I think they're changing or growing.  I thought at first they were like mom's exploding powers but the darklighter just dispersed and then reformed.  I thought her power had more _oomph than that."  She looks at him slightly concerned._

"Don't worry about it honey.  I'm sure your powers are fine.  But I'll ask about that too," Leo then orbs out.  The others turn to go to bed.  Alex prepares his temporary bedding while the two girls head upstairs.  Melinda heads toward Alex's bedroom to check on Jackson.

Trish whispers to her, "Hey don't do anything I won't do."

"There're not a lot of things you wouldn't do," Melinda counters.

"Exactly," Trish says with a sly smile.  She then slips into her room.  Melinda shakes her head.  "That girl needs her brain washed," Melinda reflects.  She just smiles at her cousin's comment and goes ahead into Alex's room.  She sees Jackson lying in the bed sleeping. Melinda notices he's shaking his head and whispering something.  She silently walks over to the sleeping young man.  She can tell that he's in a middle of a nightmare.  She bends down and wipes away the sweat that's forming on his brow.

"Shhhh…calm down," Melinda whispers.  Jackson responds to the touch and visibly settles down.  He's breathing evenly again and seems to move closer to the caring touch.  "Sleep well and I'll see you tomorrow morning," she continues.  She gently moves her hand down to his cheek and rubs it gently.  She slowly bends down and gives him a gentle kiss on the forehead.  She stands up and walks away.  Before closing the door she whispers a final, "Good night."  She doesn't notice the content smile on the dreaming young man's face.


	8. To Learn and Unlearn

A/N:  Here's the next chapter.  Sorry took so long.  It may take me a while to get the next couple of chapters out.  School is starting to rear its ugly head.

**_Ch. 7: To Learn and Unlearn_**

Jackson awoke to the sound of knocking.  At first, he was disoriented and did not know where he was.  He looked around and saw a room painted in blue.  There were posters of sports teams on the wall, weights in a corner, a study table with a laptop on top and some trophies on top of a dresser drawer.  Then he remembered yesterday and all that had happened.  He could not believe how much his life has turned, and he wasn't even sure if it _was a good change.  The knocking disturbed his reverie._

"Coming," Jackson called out.  He took off the covers and saw that he had slept in his clothes.  He got up and opened the door.  He was surprised and happy to find Melinda had woken him up.  "Hey," he said.

"Hey," Melinda returns.  An awkward silence ensued.  "Ummm…I just wanted to make sure you're up.  It gets kind of hectic in the morning here on school days.  I just wanted to make sure you have fighting chance for the bathroom."  She looks up and gives him a timid smile.

He chuckles and says, "Thanks.  I mean for everything.  I don't think I have thanked any of you enough for all you've done.  So…thanks."  He smiles back at her.  Suddenly, his hand is drawn to an errant hair in her face and draws it back behind her ear.

Melinda, a little bit flustered from the gesture, says, "Don't mention it."  She takes his hand into hers.  Before anything could continue, Trish walks briskly toward the bathroom.  As she passes them, she coughs out what sounded like the word 'crush,' and then goes into the bathroom.  The other realize what they were doing or about to do, and they visibly separated.  

"Melinda thanks again," Jackson says.

"Yeah…um…no problem," Melinda replies.  "I'll see you downstairs for breakfast."  She quickly walks away and downstairs.  Jackson's eyes follow her all the way down the hall and before she disappears down the stairs.  He doesn't even realize that Alex was coming up the stairs and heading toward him.  When Alex gets to him, Jackson is still facing the direction Melinda went.  Alex snaps his fingers in Jackson's face.  Jackson snaps back to reality.  Alex just laughs quietly.

"Come on.  I'll give you some clothes to wear and an extra towel to use.  There should be an extra toothbrush in the medicine cabinet.  You can use the bathroom after Trish, and I'll just go after you," Jackson tells him.  He goes into his closet and starts rummaging for clothes for both of them.  "So?" he calls out from the closet.

"So what?" Jackson asks.

"You know?  What's up with you and my cousin?" Jackson asks.  He steps out of the closet with two sets of clothing.  He hands one stack to Jackson.

"Um…nothing.  What do you mean?" Jackson asks, acting innocent.

"You know what I'm talking about," Alex encourages him to talk.

Jackson turns to him with a contemplative look.  He says, "I don't know yet what we have.  I would like to us to be friends first but I _really do like her.  __A lot.  I don't know yet.  Everything is kind of confusing right now especially since yesterday.  I just have too many things to deal with.  But if you're worried, and acting like the protective brother, I only have the best intentions for her."  Alex notices Jackson getting uncomfortable about revealing too much about this particular subject.  He changes the subject toward school, sports, and anything that didn't delve into anything serious.  They just talked and waited until they could get ready for school._

****

Melinda walked downstairs and headed into the kitchen.  She saw her dad making coffee and cooking breakfast.  She sits down at the table and grabs a glass of orange juice.  "Good morning, Dad.  What time did you get back last night?" she asks.

"Good morning to you too.  Oh, I came in pretty late last night.  All of you were asleep already," Leo replies.  He turns off the stove and grabs the plate with breakfast on it.  He heads toward the table and sits at the other end from Melinda.  "I've found out some interesting things from the Elders.  I was right something was a bit off about what they were telling me.  And they told me something about how your powers are growing.  But I'll let everyone know once they get here."

"Ok," Melinda replies.  She grabs a toasted bagel and starts eating some breakfast.  A couple of minutes later, Alex and Trish were coming through the door talking about a teacher, and Jack walking a few steps behind them.  Alex and Trish sit across from each other closest to Leo so that Jackson would sit next to Melinda.  The two continue talking about school but they give each other a crafty look, like they've planned the sitting arrangement all along.

"Everybody, I have some news to announce," Leo says.  Everybody stops what he or she is doing and pay attention to Leo.  "Now, first this has to deal with you Jackson.  You _are destined to be a witch, and the Elders __were right when they said that you would be doing a lot of great things.  But they've failed to mention about the real reason behind the warding and the binding."  Jackson has a questioning look when Leo mentioned binding.  He turns to Melinda.  Melinda places her hand over Jackson's, "A binding is a spell done on a witch so that they can't access their powers or their magic."  Everybody except Jack and Melinda notice the familiar gesture made but didn't say anything about it.  Leo continues his news, "After some questioning, I've found out that your real parents wanted to you live a normal life.  So they made you as distant as possible from magic.  The Elders didn't want this revealed because they feared you would refuse to become a witch."_

"Mr. Wyatt, I'm still skeptical about me being a witch but if I could do anything to help you all out as payment for your kindness and to protect myself from the Source, I wouldn't refuse it," Jackson affirms.  Melinda squeezes his hand, "You don't have to do anything to repay us.  But I'm happy that you're keeping an open mind."

"Yes, it's good that you won't refuse to unbind your powers because we need your help." Leo resumes.  "You see to defeat the Source you have to join your magic to the Charmed Ones'.  It seems your magic is attuned to theirs.  The Elders believe it's because your ancestors were in the same coven as their ancestors.  We will try to do an unbinding after you come home from school today.  Understood?"  Melinda, Alex and Trish nod their heads.  Jackson has a look on his face like he wants to ask a question.  Leo turns to him and waits for him to ask it.

"If you know these things by any chance can you…" Jackson pauses, "can you find out who my real parents were?"

Leo smiles at him, "That's no problem Jack.  I've already found out.  They're Thomas and Stephanie Williams."

Jackson asks, "Do you know what happened to them?"

Leo loses his smile, "It was very unfortunate.  Minions of the old Source were hunting them.  They gave you up to protect you but they couldn't do anything for themselves.  I'm sorry."  Jackson gives him sad smile.

Jackson replies, "You don't need to be sorry.  I'm just glad that I finally know their names.  Thanks."  There was a moment of silence before Jackson looks up, "Hey let's eat before we're late for school."  Everybody starts eating again.

Leo catches Melinda's attention, "I've found out about your powers.  It needs explaining.  Since I'm your father, you're half whitelighter and that means your powers will reflect that pacifism.  Your mother had the power to make things explode but your powers can only make them disperse apart.  Objects and _very strong evil will eventually reform where they are.  But usually evil will be banished back to their realm or the Underworld and because of the touch of your good magic will be unable to return for a certain period of time.  You'll cause demons, warlocks and darklighters a lot of pain and disorientation but you won't be able to destroy them.  As your powers grow you'll have better control but you won't have the power to make things to explode."  Melinda nods in acceptance._

"Thank goodness she doesn't have _that power.  This house will probably fall apart," Trish laughs.  Everybody laughs with her.  Melinda throws a piece of bread in mock annoyance but laughs with the rest anyway._

"Okay guys, hurry up and go.  Let's not make it a habit of being late to school like last year." Leo says.  Everybody finishes their breakfast, grabs their things, and haul out the door.  The four of them pile in the jeep and head off to school.

****

School was uneventful for the four teenagers.  The only high points of the day were lunch and when the bell rang to let students out for the weekend.  The four meet up at foyer of the school, and headed to the jeep.  Jackson was thinking, "I'm pretty lucky.  Aside from the Source lurking around the corner, I have people I can depend on.  I haven't had somebody I could trust in a long time."  Jackson looks at Melinda, and they smile at each other.

"I swear!  You two should just go out and date.  Instead of these puppy love looks you keep giving each other.  Geez, go out with each other already," Trish complains.  Alex just burst out laughing at Trish's sudden fit.

"Trish!" Melinda says shocked.  She was completely embarrassed at the moment.  She wouldn't even dare taking a look at Jackson's reaction.  She kept on walking head straight and at the quickest pace without dashing to the car.  Then, she feels a stronger hand grab her right hand before she could open the driver door.  She looks up at a grinning Jackson.  Jackson, in turn, was making one of the braver moves he has made in his young life.  

"You know Trish might actually have a good idea," Jackson says.  They hear, "I heard _that" from the other side of the jeep.  "It could repay for all the saving you've done lately.  And I would really like to go out with you."  Jackson smiles.  He can tell that Melinda is nervous.  "Well she looks like what I feel inside.  Please don't tell me I read the signals wrong," Jack thinks._

"Sure," Melinda finally answers.  The breath that Jackson didn't know he was holding was finally let out in a long sigh of relief.  "Great.  We'll talk about this when we get back to the Manor.  Okay?" Jack replies.

"Sure no problem.  Don't forget that we still have to stop by your old place to square things away," Melinda reminds Jackson.  Melinda opens the doors and let's everyone in.  Once everyone was inside, Jackson continues the conversation.

"Yeah.  Let's go I need to take care of things.  But that got me thinking, what am I going to say to everyone?  What if the police come looking for me?  What if, " Jackson asks.

"Don't worry.  You don't need to panic.  I've been working out a spell during school that may do the trick," Melinda interrupts.

"Are you sure we should be doing a spell like that?  It could be counted as a personal gain spell," Alex warns.

"Don't worry…It's not me who's gaining anything.  Plus, none of this would have happened if the Source hadn't interfered.  So it should be fine," Melinda tries to assert.  Alex just gives a dubious look but doesn't say anything more.

"I for one thinks that it's a good idea, Mel.  It'll be good that Jackson will be free from some of these things.  You don't need to be reminded of the bad things that happened to you," Trish says.  Jackson smiles at her in gratitude.  Alex was still unsure but apparently majority rules so he let it slide.  They continued toward Jackson's old place to pick up some of his things.  He took all his clothes, books, and anything else they could fit in their vehicle.  He also had some money saved up from odd jobs and hidden from his father.  He offered it to the three but they refused it and said he should keep his well-earned money.  After they could get all they needed, they decided they would go back the next day to pick up anything else Jack wants from this place.  Jackson was fortunate enough that the apartment owner let the lease end prematurely without any trouble.  The rest of the trip back to the Manor was uneventful.

****

Jackson and Alex took Jackson's things to their 'new' room, the one they will eventually room in together.  After they finished, they headed to the attic, where Mel and Trish waited for them.  The two ladies looked up as they entered.  Melinda was holding a piece of string and a pair of scissors.  She turns to Jackson.

"This spell should be pretty simple enough.  We will still remember what happened to you but no one else will.  It's as if you've always lived with us since your parents died and that way you won't have unwanted questions," Melinda explains.  Jackson just nods his head.  "Okay I'm going to begin the spell:

With this twine, I do severe"

She cuts the string in her hand into two pieces.

"To prevent old life to interfere.

I tie two pieces for life renew;"

She takes the two cut pieces and ties a knot to connect them again.

"To make destinies come true."

When she finishes her spell, the string in her hand changes into a strip of light and flies toward Jackson.  It starts spinning around him, and there's a flash and the light disappears.  Everyone looks at Jackson who has a dazed look in his eyes.

Melinda steps forward, "Jackson are you all right?"

Jackson looks up confused and answers, "I'm fine.  But…who _are_ you?"


	9. Goodbye Frying Pan, Hello Fire

A/N: Here's the next chapter.  Sorry it took so long but work and school are taking up a lot of my time.  Hopefully, I can get the next chapter out soon.  Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing!!! Ch. 8: Goodbye Frying Pan, Hello Fire. 

Jackson was looking at two young women and a guy.  They seemed to be about the same ages.  He looked around and saw that he was in an attic.  He was getting really confused about what happened and where he was.  He started looking around to make sure he could get away.  He did not know who these people are but he needed to get away.  Everything was so muddled for him right now.

The girl with glasses cautiously approaches Jack, "Jack, don't you remember?  It's me, Melinda."  Jackson steps back closer to the attic door.  "Don't you remember the spell?  Maybe you should sit down for a second."  Jackson was giving the girl a weird look.  He was slowly backing up to the door.  He thought, "These people are crazy.  And they're staring at me like I'm crazy.  What spell is she talking about?  I'm not involved in any weird crap.  And where the hell am I?"

"Ummm…I should go now.  I'm sorry if I'm been a bother," Jackson stutters.  He turns around and tries to dash for the door.  He sees it close shut before he could get to it.  He stops in shock and stares at the wooden door that happened to close by itself.  He turns back around slowly and afraid of what he was going to see.  He sees the other guy holding a glowing ball in his hand.  His eyes go wide.

"Sorry to do this Jack but we have to figure out what happened," the guy throws the ball at him.  Before he could scream for help, Jacks eyelids close, and he falls unconscious.

****

"I hope he's alright," Melinda says.  She's sitting in the living room with her cousins worrying about Jackson.  "I was sure the spell would work."

"Well, I think it did work.  But he doesn't remember us as well," Alex guesses.  He knew something wrong was going to happen but he refused to make Melinda feel any worse.  "Maybe this might just be a temporary memory loss."

"Yeah Mel, he must just need us to jog his memory.  Your spell probably did change people's memories but you probably changed his too by accident," Trish supports.

"How are we going to talk to him?  I don't he will trust us after what Alex did," Mel points out.

"Yeah, sorry about that.  At least it was a sure fire way to knock him out without any irreparable damage," Alex says.  He gives an apologetic smile to Melinda.

"Oh, I understand.  Now, all I'm worried about is how we're going to retrieve his memories," Mel says.  The three look at each other unsure what to do next.  Suddenly they all look up at the sound of the front door slamming shut.  They look at each other in surprise.

"Please don't tell me I just heard that," Mel says.

"Well, I think it sounded like somebody just left," Trish replies.  "And I think that somebody is Jack."

"C'mon.  We have to catch up with him before he gets too far," Melinda rushes to the door.  The other two quickly follow after her.  They run to the sidewalk but they don't see him anywhere.

"Okay, I need to detect him," Mel says.  She closes her eyes for a few seconds and then, "There!  I have a general area.  Guys take hold of my hand and let's go."  The three orb away.

The three land in a park.  They start looking around to see if they can spot Jackson.  Since it was getting late, they decided to split up to have wider search area.  Melinda saw Jackson talking to a person but she couldn't tell who it was.  A tree was blocking a clear view of who it was.  An arm rises and points in her direction.  Jackson turns around and sees Melinda.  He crosses his arm with an angry look on his face.

"You might as well give yourself up.  I have a police officer right here.  I don't know why you decided to kidnap me from my foster home but you're in for it now," Jackson shouts.  Melinda is shocked that Jackson ran into a police officer.  She hoped that he didn't reveal anything about them.

"Please Jackson you have to believe me.  Me and my cousins are your friends.  I don't know what happened to your memory but if you'll just trust me, I can fix it for you," Melinda pleads.  She walks over to Jackson quickly.  Jackson steps back closer to the figure.  But Melinda is not shocked at Jackson's behavior but the fact that he was standing behind what looked to be a warlock with an athame in his hands.

Melinda was afraid for Jackson, "Jackson, _please step away from that person.  I don't what he told you but he's not a police officer.  Just step over here next to me and I'll protect you."  Melinda reaches out her hand to signal Jackson to come to her side._

"I don't know what you're on girl.  But I would be crazy to walk over to my kidnapper," Jack replies.  He turns to the 'police officer,' "Well go on.  Arrest her."

"No…I'll do something even better.  I think I'm going to **kill her," says the warlock.  He gives Melinda an evil, predatory look.  Melinda is still not afraid for herself but for Jackson's safety.**

"What!!  I just want you to arrest her…no this is wrong…something's wrong," Jackson says.  He starts backing away from the warlock and Melinda.  Before he could more than three steps away, the warlock grabs his arm and puts it under a painful grip.  He tries to pull his arm out but the warlock only gripped harder.  He was kneeling from the pain.

"Where do you thing _you're going?  After I kill her, I'm going to kill you too," the warlock revealed.  Jackson's eyes went wide.  "Oopps!  Did my illusion fall off?  Well I guess the Source's illusions had a time limit.  Oh well, you're both going to die anyway," the warlock said.  Jackson was frantically trying to get out of his grip now._

"Hey you over there, if you want me to trust you, this would be a good time to save my butt," Jackson yelled.  All his struggling was no use against the warlock.  Jackson was giving Melinda a look to tell her to hurry up.  Melinda was about to use her power when she heard, "I wouldn't do that if I were you.  You see your powers won't work against me.  The Source made sure of that.  So you can try to freeze me all you want."

Melinda laughed at him.  "Who said anything about freezing?"  With that, she used her new powers and banished him back to the Underworld.  He screamed before his disappeared in blue sparks.  "Thank god that worked," Melinda said in relief.

"YOU mean to tell that you weren't sure if it was going to work!" Jack yelled.

"Well, it was a new power.  C'mon, I don't know how long he's going to stay blocked from returning.  I haven't had much practice with this power yet so I won't be sure," Mel warned.  She grabbed Jack's hand as he scrambled to get up from the ground.  They never noticed the warlock blink behind them.

"Nice work witch.  You just made me **angrier."  The warlock surprised the two.  He grabbed their arms and said, "Looks like I have to torture the both of you before I kill you."  He blinked them out before either of them could struggle or call out for help.**

****

"Trish, did you find him?" Alex asked.  They had worried look on their faces.  They were supposed to meet back where they orbed after an hour and a half of searching.  Alex had not seen Jackson at all anywhere, and he was waiting for 15 minutes before Trish arrived.

"Nope.  Not a trace," Trish answered.  "I'm also worried about Mel.  You know she's always the first one to arrive at any meeting place, and I didn't see her walking toward here at all." 

"I don't like what's going on here.  Something's not right.  Can you detect them anywhere?"  Alex asks.

Trish looked unsure. "I'm going to try.  The last time I did this I was only helping Mel.  She's at least half-whitelighter.  I'm only a quarter-whitelighter.  My powers are more like Aunt Prue's.  I don't even know if I have any whitelighter powers."

"You have to try.  We need to find her and Jack.  Not only are they vulnerable but that leaves us vulnerable too."  Alex grabs Trish's shoulder and looks at her straight in the eye.  "Hey, you can do this.  I have faith in you."

"I'm going to try," Trish says with a little bit more confidence.  She closes her eyes and tries to see if she can detect the other two.  Her brow creases in hard concentration.  "I don't know.  I can't feel them.  It's like they're not here anymore…that they don't exist."

Alex gives a worried look.  "Try just a little bit harder.  Maybe they're really far away."  He was trying to be encouraging but thoughts of worse case scenarios were popping in his head.

"There!!  I think I found them…" Trish cuts off her sentence in a gasp.  Her head bows down, and she looks to be in a relaxed state.

"Trish what's wrong.  Hey Trish!  Snap out of it," Alex shouts.  He was getting worried.  Trish wasn't responding to him at all.  "This is not good at all.  First Mel and Jack go missing.  And now Trish isn't responding.  What am I going to do?" Alex thinks.  "I know.  Uncle Leo!  Uncle Leo!" Alex starts shouting.  He sees the blue orbs come from the sky and form into Leo.

"What's wrong Alex?"  Leo asks in concern.  He sees Trish standing next to Alex, head bowed down.  He quickly comes over to her side.  "What happened here?  And where's the others?"

"I don't know what happened to Trish.  But I can explain everything else after you orb us back to the Manor," Alex was trying to delay the truth about the mishap with Jack.

"Okay, let's go," Leo says.  He was sure something wrong happened but he decided it would have to wait until the Manor.  Alex was trying hard not to make eye contact with Leo.  Leo grabs on to Alex and Trish, and they orb out of the park.

****

"Whoa!  What was that?  And where the heck am I?" Trish asks out loud.  She looks around and finds that she's in some underground cavern system.  It was dark except for the torchlights that were placed in intervals along the cavern wall.  "Okay, this is very creepy."

"Trish, is that you?" a voice calls out.  Trish is surprised by the voice but follows it around a corner.  She sees a wooden door with a small window with bars.  She looks into it and finds Mel chained into a wall.

"Mel, what happened to you?" Trish asks.  She sees Mel with her head hanging down and swinging back forth.  Her body was limp, and her weight was causing the manacles to cut into her wrists.  "It looks like she's been drugged or something," Trish thinks.  "Hey Mel!  It is me, Trish.  Where's Jack?"  Mel looks up but has a glassy look in her eyes.

"I don't know…it's so cloudy in my head right now…I think…I think we're in some part of the Underworld.  I found Jack…but…we were captured by a warlock.  He drugged me and locked me up.  He took Jack away," Mel tries to explain.  Trish could tell what an effort that took for Mel to say because she can see Mel's head drop back down again.  "Please…you have to find Jack.  Get him out of here."

"Let me get you out of this cell first." Trish says.  She swings her arm to the side but nothing happened.  This time she swings harder and faster but nothing still happened.  "What's wrong with my powers?  It's not working.  Hold on Mel.  I have to…" Trish's body fades and leaves Mel alone in the cell.

"Trish?" Mel asks.  "Gone.  I must have been hallucinating again."  She was trying to stand up again but it was taking a lot of effort just to keep her head up.  For the last ten minutes, she has been trying to snap out it so she could use her powers but whatever potion she was given had really incapacitated her.  "I've got…to snap out of it…I need to get out of here."  She finally stood up but her body was shaking from the strain.  Sweat was pouring down her forehead as she concentrated on getting out of her chains.  Finally she orbed out of the room but the effort took too much from her as she fell down on the floor.  Her breathing was heavy and labored.  "I have to find Jack.  We need to get out of here."  She was interrupted by a scream of pain.  She recognized it was Jackson screaming.  "I have to…get to him."  She got up off the floor and headed toward the screams.  She was leaning against the cavern walls for support.  She kept thinking, "Please let me get there on time.  I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I let Jackson die."  She gets to a corner and takes a quick look.  She sees the warlock and Jackson chained to a stone table.

"How do you like the pain?  Does it hurt much?  Maybe I should bring your girlfriend in her and do the same to her," the warlock mocked.  Jackson, bleeding from the nose, stared at the warlock with pure hatred.

"If you so much as touch a hair on her head, I will kill you with my bare hands," Jackson said venomously. 

"Brave words from the boy chained to the table," the warlock belittles.  Then he took a glowing rod and pressed into Jackson's side.  Jackson screamed in pain and started to convulse.  "You know you're my favorite torture yet."  The sadistic warlock jabbed him with the rod again and again.  Melinda couldn't take it anymore so she stood in the open way with one hand on the opening for support.  She was quickly forming a spell in her head.

"I would stop right there if I were you," Melinda warned.  The warlock turned around in surprise but then gave a pleased smile.

"Well if it isn't the witch.  And what are you going to do to me?  Stare at me to death," the warlock laughed.  Jackson turns his head to face Mel.

"Please Mel go orb away…you have to save yourself," Jack pleads.  Pain was written all over his face.  Blood, sweat, and tears were mixing as they fell from his face.

"Well isn't that sweet.  Maybe I should just kill the both of you that way you could die together," the warlock mocked.  He summoned his athame in the other hand while keeping the glowing rod in the other hand.  "I'll just use this athame on you to steal your powers and since this one," he pointed to Jack, "doesn't have any powers, I'll just keep on using this pain rod."  Before he could do anything, both objects exploded in motes of light.  The lights were scattered and suspended in the air.  The warlock saw Melinda waving her hands to use her new powers. "That won't stop me you know.  Stupid witch!  I'm just too powerful for you."

"You may be powerful but you can still feel pain," Melinda replied.  She chants:

"The pain you have caused

Must return without pause"

The warlock drops down on the ground, mouth open in a silent scream.  All the pain he has ever caused is returning to him causing him to roll around on the floor.  The objects Melinda dispersed quickly reformed and dropped harmlessly to the ground.  Melinda quickly went to Jack while avoiding the writhing warlock.  She can see his eyes were closed and breathing unevenly.

"Come on, Jack.  We have to go.  I don't know how long this spell will last.  I don't think it's powerful enough to destroy him with all the power the Source has given him," Melinda said, "Thank god you remember everything or all of this would be hard to explain".  Jackson turns to her with a tired look in his eyes.

"I remember Melinda…I remember," Jackson then closes his eyes.

"Hey! Don't you dare die on me.  Please don't,"  Mel pleads.  She hugs him tightly.  She starts crying uncontrollably.  "You can't leave now.  I won't let you."  She grabs on tighter as if forcing the life to stay.  She suddenly feels a hand on her back, stroking up and down.

"Who said anything about dying?" Jackson whispers.  Melinda looks up shocked.  "I'd like to think I'm tougher than that."

Melinda gently slaps his shoulder.  "If you try to scare me like that again, I swear I'll kill you myself," Melinda warns.  The pretend anger on her face was quickly replaced by a smile.  She leans down and gives him a kiss.  Then she looks into his eyes and says, "I mean it.  No dying for me.  No being heroic.  I want to get to know you better, and you have to be here, _alive, for that to happen."_

"Yes ma'am," Jackson gives her an impish smile but he was still obviously tired and hurting from the brutality  "Now can we get out of here before the spell wears off that guy."

"Yeah let's go home and get you patched up," Melinda says.  She finally let's goes of her hug but keeps his hand tightly in hers as if he would flee if she ever let goes.

"Going home…with you…I like the sound of that," Jackson smiles at her.  They orb away exhausted and hurt but free and alive to return to the Manor safely.


End file.
